


Jabberwocky - Part 5 - Decoy

by HermitLibrary_Archivist



Series: Jabberwocky - the gen stories [5]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-26
Updated: 2008-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4939633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HermitLibrary_Archivist/pseuds/HermitLibrary_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>by Sheila Paulson</p><p>When the crew of Jabberwocky learns that IMIPAK is being taken to a remote world, they hesitate about going after it. The mission is complicated by a potential sleeper agent on board the ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Background

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Judith and Aralias, the archivists: This story was originally archived at [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Hermit_Library), which was closed due to maintenance costs and lack of time. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2015. We posted announcements about the move and emailed authors as we imported, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact us using the e-mail address on [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hermitlibrary/profile). 
> 
> This work has been backdated to 26th of May 2008, which is the last date the Hermit.org archive was updated, not the date this fic was written. In some cases, fics can be dated more precisely by searching for the zine they were originally published in on [Fanlore](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page).
> 
>   **Original Author's Notes:**
> 
>  Previously published in 'Jabberwocky 5-8'.
> 
> Artist Kathryn Andersen.
> 
> Sequel to Jabberwocky - The Froma. Prequel to Jabberwocky - Kyl.

[ ](http://s77.photobucket.com/user/hermitlibraryarchivist/media/Jabberwocky%20Parts%205%20to%208%20cover_zpsw945vbbp.jpg.html)

## Background

### Part 1 Link-up

Cally has survived the explosion on Terminal and the crew have escaped in Servalan's wreck of a ship. While in a coma, Cally dreams the events of the fourth season, including Blake's death. Traumatized by her injury, she has lost her telepathy. When the crew, augmented by Hugh Tiver, a doctor kidnaped by Avon to take care of Cally, steal a prototype Federation mindship constructed around a living human brain and capable of bonding with a human in a mental linkage, their adventures are just beginning. Afraid of finding Blake for fear Avon will kill him, Cally bonds with the ship, naming it _Jabberwocky_. After rescuing Soolin from the _Scorpi_ o, they go to Gauda Prime, where the encounter backfires. Blake is wounded but is rescued and joins the crew of _Jabberwocky_. Cally's telepathy returns and she turns linkage of the ship over to Blake.

### Part 2 Mind-Rape

Blake is back, and in linkage with _Jabberwocky_ , and Servalan wants to steal _Jabberwocky_ and link with it in order to take back the presidency. She had meant it to be hers from the beginning. She uses Witt, a telepath who had worked his way into Avalon's rebel army on Ryalon base, to wrest control of _Jabberwocky_ from Blake, leaving the rebel trapped inside his mind. A mental linkage is the only way to bring him back, and Avon the only one who can do it. With Cally's help, and using nearly atrophied telepathic skills he had long pretended he didn't have, Avon is able to draw Blake back from the prison within his mind. Jabberwocky defeats the rogue telepath.

### Part 3 - Healer

With Blake in control once more, Avon is gradually accepting he was born a telepath, but his powers were suppressed to the verge of destruction.

      Blake begins behaving oddly, and problems develop with the ship as Jabberwocky begins to remember his long suppressed past - his memories had been blocked when his brain was used in the mindship. In the meantime, Jenna Stannis and Del Grant have teamed up and have one objective: Kill Avon. When their plan goes wrong and Tarrant is gravely wounded, only the combination of the mindship and Avon, the untrained telepath are able to save the pilot's life, and at this point, Tarrant becomes Jabberwocky's linkmate. Jenna joins the crew.

### Part 4 - The Froma

On a mission to draw in potential rebel support, Blake and his crew are asked to steal the Froma, an alien artifact that cannot be stolen as it destroys anyone who tries to remove it from its world. When Avon and Hugh are captured, Avon receives an unexpected telepathic contact - from the Froma itself. The strange device proves to be a sentient organism, the last of its kind. Able to link telepathically with Avon, it wants to bond with him on a permanent basis, but Cally helps, and the entity is taken to Kahn where it can be among the newly reviving Auronar.

* * *

 


	2. Decoy

"I'm afraid, my dear Servalan, that you are beginning to lose your touch."

      Servalan stiffened in outrage, all the more angry because Supreme Commander Arpel's criticism had followed a diverting hour spent in his bed. Though the Supreme Commander was not Servalan's type, he was the Supreme Commander, and she was nothing if not ambitious. After her less-than-successful performance on Triana, she was prepared to get back into Arpel's good graces in any way possible, and in truth he was an exceedingly competent lover, making the effort worthwhile - until he had spoken.

      He lay propped against the headboard of his obscenely large bed, smoking the revolting pipe that had become his trademark, watching her through narrowed eyes. A hint of a smile lifted the ends of his moustache and it took a considerable effort to stifle her anger.

      "I'm sorry I didn't please you," she hissed.

      "You mistake me," he corrected, stretching out a long arm and pulling her against his chest. He was too strong to resist and she would have done nothing so undignified. "I didn't mean just now," he went on cheerfully. "You've provided me with a delightful interlude I hope you'll choose to repeat. I meant, of course, the Blake debacle."

      "It is a pity I have been forced to rely upon other people," Servalan replied. While she would assign blame whenever possible in the matter of Blake and his crew, a small part of her mind was preening herself. "Delightful interlude" was not the best of descriptions but it was all she was likely to get from Arpel and she knew she had pleased him, at least in bed. It was the crew of _Jabberwocky_ that bothered her.

      "I had a great deal of confidence in you," Arpel continued, and there was something chilling in his use of the past tense. "But Blake is still free and the rebels make great strides. I will tolerate it no longer. It is time I took a hand myself. I shall activate my agent on board _Jabberwocky_."

      " _Your agent!_ " she exclaimed before she could bite back the words. "Are you implying that you actually have a plant on the mindship itself? You couldn't. You've never had access to any of them."

      "You think not? Can you deny that some of them have been in Federation hands at least temporarily? A little judicious conditioning can go a long way. The person in question would behave normally, would side with Blake, convinced of his or her own loyalty to him - until the trigger was tripped. Then the agent would be _mine_." He purred the last word with considerable pleasure. "Mine to manipulate as I will. Mine to instruct to turn the mindship over to me when I am ready, or to destroy it if it pleases me. Do you know your problem, Servalan, my pet? You continually underestimate _me_."

      She frowned. "No one could underestimate you, Sharn. Who is your agent?"

      "Does it matter?"

      "It matters. It's true some of them have been in Federation hands, but as for your own personal involvement, I don't recall it. In my position as Supreme Commander, I would have had access to such records."

      "Perhaps, perhaps not. Isn't it entirely possible that what was done was done on a particular planet and never reported to you? It's equally possible that the person in question was not a member of Blake's band at the time. Avon, Vila, Jenna were all Federation prisoners before being shipped out on the _London_. Tarrant and Tiver attended the FSA and could have been tampered with then. Blake himself has, of course, been successfully conditioned in the past, and I'm told the Auron is susceptible to various forms of telepathy and mind control. I concede that Mellanby might be an unlikely choice, but Soolin could have been anywhere before joining the crew and would not have merited your personal attention then." He smiled at her. "I want you to go out there, Sleer, and bring back the mindship. Once my trigger is activated, through the Orac computer, it should be easy to take the ship. Interesting to think that Orac's abilities will, for once, work for us." He smiled. "Think of it as a stepping stone to power, my dear."

      "I am thinking of it," she said frankly. She was also considering the danger: one conditioned individual might not be able to take the ship, and she could find an angry crew confronting her instead of overpowered victims of Arpel's plan. She had every confidence in her ability to overcome them, though. If she could learn the trigger phrase or at the very least the name of the sleeper, she could slant Arpel's plan to benefit her. Up to a point, he would not even fight her. Secure in his power, he seemed to enjoy her scrambles. But this would be no shabby scramble. Servalan still knew key people, not all of whom would remain her enemies if she presented them with Blake. She needn't even dispose of Arpel. It would be amusing to retain him as Supreme Commander to her President, to relish his subservience. He claimed to have no designs on the presidency, but then he wouldn't admit it if he had. No, she couldn't risk it. A lower position, perhaps, if she did not dispose of him outright. It would be a pity to lose his expertise in bed, but there were always others.

      "You've left me the difficult part," she pointed out. "I shall expect to be compensated appropriately."

      "You are skilled enough to manage your own compensations. It's possible that you will emerge from this covered in glory and return to your old position."

      "And you would not regret that?"

      "Should I? You might find me stronger than you anticipate. Perhaps we could share power, you and I. A partnership. Think of it, my dear. Together we could accomplish the impossible."

       _I'd be dead in a week_. She remembered Avon's reply when she had attempted to seduce him on Sarran. Now she understood Avon's reaction, though she doubted Arpel would kill her, at least immediately. No, there were better options than his partnership. A bit of information in the right ear and Arpel might seem the traitor, bringing her one step closer to power. Several steps if she took Blake.

      "I'm considering it," she murmured.

      "Then come here, love. We'll talk later." He pulled her to him again, but not even the delightful sensations his hands and mouth were causing could distract her from her determination. "Humour me, Sharn," she said against his mouth. "Which of them is it?"

      Arpel told her.

 

[ ](http://s77.photobucket.com/user/hermitlibraryarchivist/media/Jabberwocky%20Part%205%20Blake_zpsvivlckmf.jpg.html)

      "You're a fool, Blake," Avon snarled viciously. "Going to Serna is a suicidal risk. Or are you so obsessed with defeating the Federation that the rest of us have become so much fodder for destruction?"

      "You're exaggerating, Avon," Blake said stiffly. "Serna may be a Federation world but I wouldn't go there without a good cause."

      "Of course that makes all the difference." Avon glared at Blake. "Merely going to Serna will get us captured before we've had time to do more than teleport down."

      "I hate to agree with Avon, but I think he's right," Tarrant interjected. "Blake, I've been to Serna. It was before the Andromedan War, true, but it was a major Federation stronghold. There's a huge base and enough ships to make our going there too big a risk. Not even you could hope to do enough damage there to make it worthwhile, and I don't like the idea of a suicide mission."

      "Suicide mission?" Vila echoed in dismay. "Who's talking about suicide missions? I'm much too young to die."

      "You've told us that so often that the idea of silencing you has become curiously attractive," muttered Dayna, the only other crewmember on the flight deck now. "Blake, there's obviously something you're not telling us. I don't think you'd take us into a trap without a good reason."

      "Unless he _thought_ he had a good reason," Avon reminded her. "Which is not the same thing. Blake, I find this latest scheme of yours highly questionable, and if the rest of us have any say in the matter, I am against it. I suggest you get the rest of us up here and put it to a vote."

      "Surprisingly democratic of you, Avon," retorted Blake. "But I've got an urgent reason to go."

      "Oh, wonderful," Vila murmured. "At least we'll die in a good cause. Blake, why can't we go somewhere nice like a pleasure planet? We need a holiday, we do. Ever since we got _Jabberwocky_ , we've been scurrying around getting into trouble. The pressure's getting to you. Let's relax and forget about suicide missions. Please, Blake."

      Blake got up and stood before the screen, turning to face them. "I'll tell you. Jabberwocky, put it on the main screen."

      "All right, but they could be right, Blake. Listen to them." For a change, the voice of their computer sounded rather subdued.

      "If Jabberwocky's against it, then I know it's wrong," Tarrant declared. He was still Jabberwocky's link-mate, and he didn't like the idea of risking that. //Jabberwocky?// he prodded within the link. //Just how dangerous is this?//

      //Very dangerous,// Jabberwocky replied. //But you've taken risks before, Del. Hear him out. I'm only a poor computer and I can't judge. It might be worth it.//

      //Poor computer,// Tarrant scoffed fondly. //I know better.// He turned his attention to the screen.

      Blake inserted Orac's key. "Orac, describe the situation on Serna if you would."

      "Oh, very well. As I have made abundantly clear in the past, I can be put to better use than a viscast relay. The following message was sent to the Federation governor on Serna two days ago."

      Hugh and Soolin strolled onto the flight deck just then and both of them stopped. Hugh seemed to sense the tension on the flight deck. "What's going on?"

      "Trouble," Avon replied. "Blake, the others should be here."

      "Jabberwocky, send for Cally and Jenna," Blake said impatiently, running a hand through his curly hair. "But you'll see I'm right, Avon. It's dangerous though. I admit it. It's more dangerous for you and me than it is for the others, but it's a risk we'll have to take."

      "So you would have us believe." Though Avon had mellowed a bit since coming on board _Jabberwocky_ , he showed no sign of it now. He wore his suspicion like a banner, and Blake's words did nothing to dissipate it. Tarrant wondered if Avon was reacting like this to keep his hand in or because he knew Blake well enough to be suspicious of him. They'd taken on dangerous missions before; on _Liberator_ , the others had gone to Earth to look for Central Control, right in the heart of Federation power, and they'd gone looking for Servalan once in her actual palace, though they had found Anna Grant as well. Could this be any riskier than those missions?

      But why should it be riskier for Blake and Avon than the rest of them? Tarrant didn't know what was going on, but Avon knew Blake well enough to be suspicious. //What do you think, Jabberwocky?// Tarrant asked.

      //Well, maybe it's a foolish risk, but it's too big a danger to ignore.//

      //Tell me about it.//

      //It'll come better from Blake. But don't worry, Del. We're the best ship and crew in space. If anybody can pull this off, we can. It might even be fun.//

      In his typical gung-ho fashion, Jabberwocky had convinced himself that it was worthwhile. Tarrant wasn't convinced but he dropped out of link-mode, just as Cally and Jenna arrived. Sensing the mood, both of them halted and Cally went to stand at Avon's side. He hardly seemed aware of her, but when she put out her hand, he took it without looking. Telepathy?

      "Very well, we're all here." Blake's patience seemed forced. "Avon insists that all of you hear my latest plan. I know that what I'm suggesting will sound risky but when you hear the facts, I think you'll be willing to follow through."

      Avon detached himself from Cally and went to confront Blake, folding his arms across his chest. "Convince us."

      "Play the tape, Orac."

      "Oh, very well."

      The screen came to life and a Federation Space Commander appeared. "To Governor Relk, Serna, greetings from the Supreme Commander. You have been chosen because of your extreme loyalty to receive and hold a Federation secret weapon of vital importance. This information must not be revealed, even to your most loyal staff members. Serna was selected because of its security. Your vast complex will be an appropriate housing for a dangerous tool that must never leave Federation hands. The delivery will be made to you personally three days from now. The code phrase will be 'The brave man with a sword.' When that phrase is spoken to you, you will secure what is given to you."

      "Oscar Wilde," muttered Avon _sotto voce_. Tarrant shot him a surprised look. Avon could always be counted upon to come up with obscure references. Tarrant found the context intriguing.

      "The device will protect itself," the Space Commander's recorded voice continued. "You will have nothing to do with it. It is called IMIPAK, and it is to be protected at all costs, even with your life if necessary. Rather than let it fall into enemy hands, it must be destroyed. By accepting this task, you prove your loyalty and the Supreme Commander will expect success. He acknowledges his debt to you."

      "IMIPAK!" Avon sounded furious. "Even you could not be that stupid, Blake. You can't go after IMIPAK. Neither you nor I can go near the planet."

      "That might be true if anyone on the planet knew and understood IMIPAK's function."

      "What's to stop Relk from experimenting?" Avon demanded. "Blake, we cannot risk this."

      "We cannot risk Servalan finding out about it. She _does_ know the working of IMIPAK, although she's been marked too and probably won't take the risk."

      "She might take that risk, knowing she has a chance to either destroy us or the weapon," Avon pointed out. "Blake, you're a fool."

      "Perhaps," Blake replied. "Do you really want IMIPAK loose in the galaxy, Avon? We'll have no safety while it exists. When it was hidden, we could ignore it, but no more. We must destroy it."

      "And die in the process? Either way the weapon wins."

      "Just what is IMIPAK?" Hugh asked pacifically. "Maybe the rest of us could offer an opinion if we knew what you were talking about."

      "IMIPAK was a weapon developed by a Beta grade technician named Coser," Blake explained. "It stands for Induced Molecular Instability Projector and Key. The weapon causes a point of molecular instability in its victims, then, with the key, the possessor of the weapon could trigger that instability and kill the victim, at any time, at almost any distance. If someone used the key while Avon and I were in range, we'd be killed."

      "Entirely by accident," Avon added sourly. "Servalan can't be involved in this, Blake. She, too, has been marked. She would never risk it."

      "If the weapon was taken from its resting place and she discovered it, she might manipulate it," Blake insisted. "She couldn't go near it, but she could let its whereabouts be known in hopes of luring us in close."

      "Oh, thank you," Avon said facetiously. "You've convinced me. We must go at once. Blake, give it up. We will gain nothing but our deaths."

      "We can gain IMIPAK's destruction."

      "Assuming," persisted Avon, "that it is possible to destroy the key without triggering it. No, thank you, Blake. I have chosen to follow you before, but this time I will have nothing to do with your plan."

      "I thought you wanted everyone here so we could vote," Blake reminded him. "I know it's a big risk, but I think leaving IMIPAK intact in Federation hands is a bigger one. Neither of us could go down to the planet, but keeping the planet's bulk between us, we could risk sending someone else to destroy the weapon. Orac can discover a foolproof means of disarming it."

      "Just a minute," Jenna intervened. "We don't even know if the message is genuine. I think we should find out if the delivery has been made before we get so upset. How long ago did Orac intercept this message?"

      "Yesterday," Blake told her. "I've had him follow it up. A flotilla is _en route_ to Serna now. It consists of twenty pursuit ships. We couldn't challenge that many but once the weapon is there, we could break in and steal it."

      "Break in?" Vila moaned. "I knew it. A top security base, and you want me to break in."

      "You're the only one who can do it, Vila. If you don't, Avon and I will always be at risk. Any change of power on Serna could endanger us. Relk could become ambitious or he could die and his successor could start pushing buttons without even knowing what he held. We have to go. The risk is too great otherwise."

      "I agree," said Jenna. "If we can be sure IMIPAK is there, we must destroy it."

      "Bravely spoken," Avon told her, "from one who is not at risk."

      "I'm at risk from Serna security," Jenna flashed at him. "Besides I might be concerned for your safety."

      "Or Blake's." Avon managed to make it sound suggestive.

      Jenna glared at him.

      "Cally?"

      "Yes, Blake. We must go." She touched Avon's shoulder tentatively. "Avon, I would not have you at risk. There is also Servalan to consider. Though she, too, is in danger from the weapon, she could still use the knowledge to her advantage."

      "Tarrant?"

      The pilot frowned. He didn't like the idea of going to Serna, but neither did he like the idea of a weapon that could kill at leisure in the hands of the Federation. "They might use it against us," he finally said. "We've got to get it."

      "Another blow for common sense," Avon said sarcastically.

      "Dayna?"

      "Let's get it. I might be able to adapt it into something we could use, or even neutralise the key."

      "Hugh?"

      "It sounds like this weapon could do more than I could fix. I don't want to go to Serna either, but we've got the detector shield and Orac and _Jabberwocky_. I say it's worth the risk."

      Avon shot him an annoyed look. Blake continued patiently. "Soolin?"

      "Yes. We should go. I don't like the idea of IMIPAK. I don't think it should be adapted. I think it should be destroyed."

      "Vila?"

      "I don't want to go," said Vila quickly. Then he looked over at Avon. "But we've got to. I don't want to break into that base. I don't like it one bit. But somebody's got to do it." He turned to Blake. "But only if we destroy it. Maybe we could just set charges and blow up the whole place?"

      Blake turned to Avon. "I'm sorry, Avon. You're outvoted."

      "This is a ship of fools," Avon spat at him. "When you feel your blood boiling from the weapon's key, then perhaps you will realise I was right." He stalked over to his position and sat down, finally adding, "Vila will need backup. The Serna base is entirely computer-run."

      "You can't go down there, Avon," Blake cried in alarm.

      "Whether I am down there or not, I am at risk," Avon reminded him. "I prefer to trust my safety to someone more capable than Vila."

      The thief shot him a nasty look, and Hugh intervened. "What was that quote, Avon? The trigger phrase? It seems I've heard it before, but I can't recall where."

      "It's from _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_ by Oscar Wilde - Earth; the Old Calendar," Avon explained. "Singularly appropriate, perhaps: 'And all men kill the thing they love/By all let this be heard./Some do it with a bitter look/Some with a flattering word./The coward does it with a kiss,/The brave man with a sword."' He smiled. "A pity he says nothing of the fool," he concluded and walked off the flight deck without a backward look.

      In the uneasy silence that followed, Blake stared after him in dismay and frustration. He knew they couldn't leave IMIPAK in Federation hands. He hadn't expected Avon to jump at the risk, but Avon had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to go. What concerned Blake was that Avon's resentment of the whole plan might make him decide to leave afterwards. He had threatened that before, and though they had grown closer since coming together on _Jabberwocky_ , that didn't mean Avon wouldn't choose to walk if the situation passed beyond certain parameters he'd set for himself.

      "How did the Federation get IMIPAK?" Jenna's practical question interrupted Blake's dark thoughts. "It should have been safe on that planet. Servalan couldn't be behind this, could she? She wouldn't risk herself. And what about - him?"

      Blake stiffened. The reassurances that they were safe then had come from a very familiar voice, his own, and on questioning, Blake had discovered that Servalan had had him cloned. Though the clone didn't share his memories, it was an uncomfortable feeling to know that he had a duplicate loose in the galaxy, and he had been relieved when the clone declined his offer to relocate him on a more populous planet. Blake had thought of the clone from time to time and had been content with the knowledge that at least _he_ was safe from Servalan. Now it seemed that his safety had been illusory too. If Servalan had not come to the clone's world, someone had, someone who had realised the weapon's implications. His clone was probably dead and the girl as well, and if Servalan knew what was going on, she would be shaking in her elegant shoes. Blake wondered if the new Supreme Commander had any hint of how such news would intimidate Sleer. One person they would not encounter on Serna was the former President and Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation.

      Unless it was a trap.

      "If IMIPAK has surfaced, the clone is probably dead," Blake said in answer to Jenna's question, not really surprised to discover that he minded. Seeing the question on Tarrant's face and Hugh's, he gave a brief description of their experiences with IMIPAK. "Avon, Gan and I were marked," he concluded. "Gan is safe from it now." He was silent a moment, remembering. "Avon and I are still at risk. But more to the point, Servalan is marked as well. She would never have dared go back there."

      "Maybe no one has gone back there," Dayna offered. "This could be another of her tricks. She'd expect you to come running to destroy the weapon, secure in the knowledge that she'd have to keep her distance. It could be a carefully-baited trap, Blake."

      "Yet you voted to go," Tarrant reminded her.

      "Because if it's real, we can't leave a time bomb like that in Federation hands," she reminded him, but Blake saw the fascination she felt for the weapon in her eyes. She knew it was risky, but she wanted to find it anyway. Well, Dayna had developed some sophisticated weapons systems; this might be right up her alley. Blake made a mental note to include her in the landing party.

      "I'd be more inclined to think it a trap," Soolin said, regarding Dayna with narrow eyes. "But with _Jabberwocky_ and Orac, we're more than a match for them. I'm not fond of danger, but I don't avoid it either."

      "Avon is unhappy about it," Cally pointed out. She had not stirred from her position. At times she could give such an impression of serenity that she could remain in the background until she spoke, startling them all. Perhaps because of this, they all turned to stare at her, and Blake voiced his concern. "You don't think he'll run, do you, Cally?"

      "He wouldn't run till afterwards," she mused. "And by then, he could well have changed his mind. Sometimes you push him too hard, Blake."

      "You don't think he pushes me just as hard?"

      "It doesn't matter who pushes hardest," Hugh cut in. "What matters now is IMIPAK. It needs to be neutralised, and that means getting there in time to get it away from them."

      "You're getting gung-ho all of a sudden," Tarrant remarked.

      "Do _you_ want to leave something like that in Federation hands, Del?"

      Tarrant made a gesture of irritated impatience. "I'm not the one in danger, am I?" he pointed out, a sarcastic edge to his voice. "I still think we're taking an impossible risk, going to Serna at all. I know the place. No matter how good we are, we aren't likely to get away with it unscathed. What do you think, Jabberwocky?"

      "I think we can do it, Del."

      "I didn't think computers could be suicidal," Vila muttered sourly. He got up and headed for the drinks dispenser, but before Blake could comment, he programmed a cup of coffee. Catching Blake's surprised look, he added, "The time to get drunk is when we get to Serna, isn't it then?"

      "Oh, that should be a big help," Blake snapped at him.

      "I think everybody had better calm down," Jabberwocky soothed. "It won't help us to get mad at each other."

      "Thank you very much," Blake barked in the general direction of Jabberwocky's display panel. This was getting on his nerves already.

      //I know you are uneasy, Blake,// Cally telepathed to him, //but it will not help to get angry.//

      He shot her an angry look then forced himself to relax. "Orac, I want you to monitor the flotilla heading for Serna and also to check all Federation transmissions that could be related to IMIPAK. If this is a trap, I want to know about it yesterday. We can always pull out if IMIPAK isn't really involved."

      "I am not a common messenger relay."

      "No, but you'll be at risk with the rest of us if it's a trap," Hugh reminded Orac. "Find out for us, Orac, there's a good computer."

      If Orac had had a nose, he would have turned it up. He made a hmmphing sound and was silent. Finally he said, "Kindly wait. Such data will require time and effort. I am clearing my circuits."

      "Orac's got one thing in common with Avon," Tarrant observed, and when the others looked at him expectantly, he explained. "Self-preservation."

      "That's right," Vila remembered. "It was Orac's idea for Avon to dump me off that shuttle."

      "That only happened in Cally's dream, Vila," Dayna reminded him impatiently.

      "She didn't have any dreams about IMIPAK, did she?" asked Vila uneasily.

      "No, Vila," Tarrant threw an exasperated look his way that Blake suspected masked relief that Cally's dream had not touched upon this particular crisis. It seemed they had departed from it entirely now, as if the Gauda Prime sequence had terminated the dream and detached them from further consequences. But Blake knew better than to let himself relax. There were always new consequences just around the corner.

      As they neared Serna, the crew's nerves stretched thinner and thinner, as growing tensions became evident. Everybody snapped at everybody else, and Vila observed that it must have been like this on _Scorpio_ in Cally's dream, a remark calculated to irritate the others. Avon avoided everyone, even Cally, Blake sulked around the flight deck snapping at anybody who tried to talk to him. Tarrant was loud in his disagreements with the others, Dayna impatient. Jenna worried about Blake and was defensive on his behalf, though she spent a lot of time monitoring the screens and checking with Orac. Soolin hovered about the flight deck, and when she wasn't doing that, she was practising with her gun. Vila whined a lot, which drew everyone's wrath, though Hugh suspected he did it to defuse the building stress. Vila's loudly-voiced and cringing complaints may have been a part of him, but Hugh was sure Vila wasn't really a coward and that most of his complaining had been window-dressing to relieve tension. Cally looked uneasy, which worried Hugh even more than the others' bad tempers. Cally had experienced one precognitive dream. It was possible she felt something about this as well.

      He sought her out when they were a day away from Serna, choosing his time carefully and finally catching her alone on the flight deck. She had her hand on the panel that linked with Jabberwocky and her eyes were closed. She looked at peace, and Hugh hated to disturb it, so he waited quietly a few minutes, then finally he cleared his throat to announce his presence. "Cally?"

      She came out of link and turned with a smile, though the pucker of worry on her forehead didn't smooth away. "I'm worried, Hugh," she said without preamble.

      "About the mission?" he asked, though it seemed the obvious concern.

      "No, something else. Connected with the mission though. Orac is monitoring those ships and they arrive at Serna today. The cargo manifest lists an unmarked, sealed container which is the proper size to hold IMIPAK. But the flotilla is taking no precautions."

      "Twenty ships would be safe from most attacks," Hugh reminded her. "But if I wanted to move something, I'd use them as a decoy and bring it in separately."

      "I thought of that and asked Orac to check. No other possible ships are approaching. It's as if they wanted us to know IMIPAK was being transferred. All they had to say is that a secret package was arriving that must be protected. Announcing the contents was a foolish risk, the use of a code phrase worries me. Surely the proper documentation could be provided without one."

      "Viscast espionage," Hugh retorted. "Secret codes and mysterious deliveries. I suspect real espionage is usually more prosaic. Did you ask Orac to run the code again in case there was more to it?"

      "Orac is checking now. And I have been going over it with Jabberwocky."

      "Have you told Blake?"

      "Not yet. Blake's too concerned about the threat of IMIPAK to listen unless I can give him proof. He'll take precautions but not as many as he should."

      "Do you believe IMIPAK's really there?" Hugh asked. The possibility that Servalan was using it to bait a trap, knowing Blake would be unable to resist it, bothered him. If she had access to Arpel, she could have arranged the flotilla, the coded message, everything. She could be waiting on Serna with a small army, prepared to capture or kill them. Or the person sending the message could simply be of a melodramatic bent, enjoying secret codes. Without Orac, they would never have picked up the message.

      Servalan knew they had Orac.

      "I do not know," Cally replied. "Something is being transported. But it could be an empty box or engine parts or anything of the appropriate size and weight. I am uneasy about this, Hugh."

      "You haven't had a premonition about it?"

      "No, just a general uneasiness. I don't feel like I did after Terminal. But I wish Avon did not feel he had to go down." She gave Hugh a faint smile. "Because he and I are involved, I fear for his safety. It needn't mean anything more. If we can destroy IMIPAK, it will be easier for all of us. Until then, Avon and Blake will be at odds."

      "From what you've all told me, they've been at odds before."

      "That's true. But this is more serious. I can't explain it. Avon blames Blake for going to Serna, though we all voted to go. If something goes wrong, he'll hold it against Blake, although it's not really Blake's fault. Blake has no choice, but Avon won't acknowledge that."

      "I have the required information," Orac interrupted them, and Cally turned quickly. "What is it, Orac?"

      'The code appears what it was intended as, but it could have other functions as well. As a transfer code, it is clearly redundant, but humans _are_ frequently redundant. As a message projected at us deliberately, it could have several functions. One would be to convince us of the validity of the transfer - a foolish purpose since you have already questioned it. A second purpose could be to act as a trigger to initiate pre-programmed conditioning."

      That had an ominous ring to it. "What do you mean, Orac?" Hugh demanded, coming to sit in front of Orac and study the computer consideringly.

      "As I have just stated, conditioning sometimes requires a trigger to initiate it. Should someone on this ship or on the Serna base have been programmed in the past to respond to it, the use of the trigger would initiate a pre-determined behaviour pattern. As to what action would be initiated, the possibilities are limitless. If intended as a Federation plan to take this ship, the code could cause a member of the crew to do something to facilitate a take-over."

      "Has any such action been taken?" Hugh asked. "Has anyone responded to the trigger?"

      "I am aware of no such action. Behaviour detrimental to the continued safety of this ship would be logged and reported by myself or the Jabberwocky computer."

      "All that means is that they haven't acted yet," Hugh realised. "Orac, which of the crew would be in a position to respond to a trigger of that nature?"

      "Most of this crew has been in Federation hands at one time or another," Orac pointed out. "Blake has been successfully conditioned before. Avon, Jenna and Vila have been through Federation interrogation prior to being shipped to Cygnus Alpha. Cally has been interfered with on several occasions. You and Tarrant began your careers with the Federation; such triggers may be automatic there. I am unfamiliar with Soolin's complete background; it is possible, but nothing can be determined without further data. Dayna Mellanby would be an unlikely choice, though her life on Sarran may not have been as isolated as she claimed."

      "So you're saying all of us but Dayna could have been conditioned and that only now is that being used against us?"

      "Perhaps only now has it become important," Orac replied. "Or perhaps the person with the knowledge of such conditioning was not in a position to use it before. Such speculation is pointless. I suggest that the Jabberwocky computer link with members of the crew and determine any traces of programming, now that the so-called trigger has been initiated."

      "Unless Jabberwocky's the one who was conditioned," Hugh pointed out, winning a dark look from Cally.

      "That's impossible," Jabberwocky countered, sounding miffed. "My systems would have prevented that."

      "That is false," Orac said. "Conditioning could have take place in the past, before your brain was placed in this vessel, or it could have been part of the computer programming you received at the hands of the Federation. If such programming was set up to respond to a trigger, I submit that you would have been unaware of it and that you would be conditioned to deny any programming took place. It is more likely that there could be such programming. This ship is too valuable to risk without it."

      "That's what the link was supposed to prevent," Cally objected.

      "Was it?" Avon stalked onto the flight deck and it was plain from the dark expression on his face that he had been listening for some time. "Jabberwocky has not been entirely innocent in the past. I would be unwilling to accept his innocence this time without monitoring. Given seventeen back-up systems to preserve his life, should the Federation then rely on only the link to prevent Jabberwocky falling into the wrong hands?"

      Studying Avon's face, Hugh saw a great deal of suspicion there, directed not only at Jabberwocky but at himself as well. He realised he was a prime candidate for a saboteur, at least from Avon's viewpoint. Though Hugh doubted he had ever been conditioned, he could not be entirely certain because mental testing in the Federation was conducted in such a way to make programming possible. Remembering the various test devices he had worn at one time or another, Hugh could not even be sure himself that he had not been programmed as a sleeper, waiting for the right moment to be called to action, but he suspected that if he were a conditioned agent, he would have been unable to act as he had on his home world of Dayson Prime, sabotaging the suppressant programme there. Surely programming would have kicked in to stop him.

      He didn't try to defend himself though. Instead he said, "We don't have any proof that the code phrase was anything but that, Avon."

      "Or that IMIPAK is being transported to Serna," Avon reminded him. "We have a definite problem either way. Orac's suggestion to have Jabberwocky monitor the crew and determine a possible sleeper agent is flawed."

      Orac made an outraged sound which Avon ignored, continuing, "If Jabberwocky is the conditioned one, he would be able to lull suspicions in other members of the crew. We have not yet discovered the parameters of Jabberwocky's abilities. To permit such experimentation is a risk that I, for one, do not intend to take."

      "But if Jabberwocky's innocent, then he'd be our best chance of finding out if we have a traitor on board," Hugh insisted. "I'm willing to take the risk."

      "Proving your innocence or your foolishness," Avon commented, "or both." His eyes narrowed. "Or neither. The programming could be self-contained, protecting itself. Orac, as the only one not conditioned, could you detect evidence of tampering on the part of anyone on this ship?"

      "I could detect behaviour that caused damage to the ship. With more extensive testing, I could clear everyone on board. It would take many days."

      Hugh got up and began to pace back and forth. "We don't have even one day. Orac, what's the most logical way for a sleeper agent to complete his programming?"

      "To capture and destroy this vessel. Capture would be indicated at this time as the mindship is valuable. Also the capture of Blake and his crew would have immense propaganda value throughout the Federated Worlds and would cause great damage to the rebel movement. At this point, with rebel strength growing, stopping _Jabberwocky_ would be a priority, even if it means destruction."

      "I wouldn't destroy myself, Avon," Jabberwocky insisted. "You've been in my mind - deeper than anyone ever was before, even my link-mates. You didn't see any kind of programming, did you?"

      It was true that Avon had been deeply linked with Jabberwocky when he'd tried to heal the computer after he had begun to remember his past. There could have been no secrets between them then. But a secret that Jabberwocky didn't know he had might not have been exposed, and Avon's eyes narrowed as he considered. "It's not good enough," he said finally.

      "Then what's your answer, Avon?" Hugh asked, halting his pacing to stare down at the shorter man. "Are you going to take off by yourself? You could be the one yourself, have you thought of that?"

      "So I could." Avon favoured him with a cold smile and stood a little straighter as if he resented the height difference. "More likely it's you."

      "Stop it," Cally objected before Hugh could retaliate. "Avon, if one of us is conditioned and the trigger has been activated, the safest way to protect ourselves is for everyone to monitor someone else. If Dayna is the least likely to have been conditioned, we can start with her. I think we can assume that only one person would be conditioned to that particular trigger. If we monitor each other, we could assure ourselves some degree of protection. Orac must assist us."

      When the possibility of a sleeper agent was announced, theories flew thick and fast on the flight deck, each crew member insisting he was not the one, providing various reasons, some good, some not so good, to defend his position. In spite of prior programming, Blake himself seemed an unlikely candidate. Were he so conditioned, it would have been foolish for the Federation to allow him to gain such notoriety as a rebel when they could have stopped him years ago. The same could possibly be said for Avon, who might have given the Federation knowledge of _Liberator_ , Orac or the teleport. Vila and Jenna might have been triggered too, but it seemed less likely; perhaps they might have been left at liberty awaiting an auspicious moment. The newer members began to seem more likely suspects and Avon was not the only one to suggest Hugh or Jabberwocky. Soolin could not prove her innocence, and Tarrant, though he had been _Liberator's_ pilot for a year before it was destroyed, could have been the one, waiting for the right moment.

      "Or to make it more complex," Avon pointed out, "it's possible that the knowledge of a trigger was in the hands of someone who lacked the power to initiate it."

      "That kind of knowledge provides its own power, Avon," Blake corrected. "If you were a minor Federation programmer who knew how to turn the _Liberator_ over, you would offer your information in hopes of promotion and power."

      "Which only confirms my suspicion that the sleeper is a recent addition," Avon replied smoothly. "Hugh went through a Federation training program. He had no access to _Liberator,_ but now he is here on _Jabberwocky,_ it would be the ideal time to trigger him, Servalan learning of his presence recently."

      Hugh glared at Avon, who averted his eyes. He had begun to trust Hugh and he resented the fact.

      "Or Soolin," Tarrant remarked, winning a furious glare from the gunfighter. "We don't know anything about her background," Tarrant finished.

      "Yes we do," Vila defended her. "The Federation caused the death of her family after all. She wouldn't side with them after that."

      "We're not talking about a Federation agent, Vila," Blake reminded him. "We're talking about conditioning someone to act against his will. It could even be you."

      If it weren't for the gravity of the situation, Avon would have been amused at Vila's horrified look, but just now, nothing was even mildly humorous. Instead he turned to Blake. "This mission was foolish enough at the start. To continue now is nothing short of suicidal."

      "It doesn't help to stand here accusing each other when we have no proof that the code was for anything but recognition," Blake shot back. "I personally don't want to leave IMIPAK in Federation hands without more proof than some speculation on Orac's part."

      "That," Avon declared, "is what you'd say if you were the sleeper."

      "Is it? Then I'm not subtle enough to get away with it, am l? Don't you think the agent would have to be more devious than that?"

      Avon remained obdurate. "It could be a double bluff, Blake. I confess I find you an unlikely agent. The Federation has let you roam about unimpeded for a long time if they could control you. But I submit that continuing the mission under the stated conditions is suicidal and I want no part of it."

      "All right, you've _got_ no part of it," Blake snapped. "We'll do it without your help. Orac is monitoring Serna, and we'll pull out at the first evidence of a trap. That's always been my plan. But if IMIPAK is really there, I won't leave it with the Federation. If one of us is an agent, the rest of us will need to monitor each other. So far there has been one trigger. It would activate the agent but it wouldn't guarantee the proper circumstances. If one of us is programmed, additional instructions could be forthcoming. We'll track Federation codes and viscasts. Unless we identify further triggers or instructions, an agent on board would only be a random factor. If no further instructions are needed, Jabberwocky could determine the guilty party quite easily."

      "Unless Jabberwocky _is_ the guilty party," Avon said. "He could claim it was one of the others to divert suspicion."

      "Don't you think I'd know that, Avon?" demanded Tarrant hotly. "I'm linked to Jabberwocky and I haven't noticed anything different about him since we got that bloody message. I'm sure I would have."

      "You're a fool, Tarrant. Do you imagine your mind is a match for Jabberwocky's?"

      "Maybe not, but of all of us I'm best at linking and that should count for something. Besides I'd stay in the link when Jabberwocky tests anyone. He can't hurt me, even if I should learn something about him. If he couldn't hurt Witt-"

      "Couldn't hurt Witt!" Avon blurted incredulously. "In case you have forgotten, Witt's brain was all but destroyed. Perhaps _you_ are willing to take that kind of risk. One needs a brain to suffer from brain-burn after all."

      "Enough!" Blake sounded furious. "This isn't helping. Orac will devise a schedule to enable us to monitor each other, based on the likelihood of conditioning. Those most at risk will be paired with those least at risk, and Orac will also observe. Since Tarrant has volunteered to remain linked to Jabberwocky, I will take him up on that. Perhaps we should all link as a group."

      "And be burned out as a group if Jabberwocky is the agent?" Avon persisted.

      "We can pull out of the link at any time," Blake reminded him. "Witt chose not to withdraw, and that's why he suffered as he did."

      "Jabberwocky can initiate link." Avon shook his head. "I have no intention of linking and if Jabberwocky is innocent, he will not initiate linkage. If he is guilty, he won't unless it's absolutely necessary."

      "Necessary?" Vila echoed uneasily. "What do you mean, necessary?"

      "I mean that if we decide not to go to Serna, the saboteur will require us to go there anyway. If Jabberwocky is the sleeper, we are not safe from him. If it is one of the rest of us, possibly we can safeguard ourselves - as long as we go to Serna."

      "You just said you didn't want to go and now you say we have to?" Vila muttered. "Maybe that means it's you, Avon."

      "Surprisingly well reasoned, Vila." Avon favoured him with an ominous smile. "Whether there is a saboteur or not, we are being manipulated to Serna, and I do not like it. Either IMIPAK or Servalan will be waiting for us and there could be an agent on board to make it easy for her. No, I do not want to go to Serna. But we will go there anyway, since our fearless leader and the threat of destruction prevent our doing the sensible thing and running away." He stood and headed for the door.

      "Where are you going?" asked Blake.

      "To monitor the computer systems for sabotage."

      "Or sabotage them?" Soolin asked suspiciously.

      "By all means accompany me," Avon replied. He knew that none of them would be able to detect computer sabotage easily even had he been inclined to perform it, which he wasn't. He also knew that consciously intending none did not clear him. "Assign Orac to monitor me," he suggested. "Only Orac would know if I intended to blow this ship to bits rather than prevent its destruction."

      "I don't trust you, Avon," Soolin persisted.

      "Why should you? I don't trust you."

      "Then you'll make an excellent team," Blake told them.

      "You're not going to turn him loose on the computers?" Jenna objected.

      "If we _have_ been sabotaged, Avon is the only one who'd be able to tell," Blake said. "Besides, I _do_ trust him."

      "You're a fool, Blake," snapped Avon. He did not welcome Blake's trust, especially now, though he valued it most of the time. He picked up Orac, turned to Soolin, whose hand was hovering near her gun, and said, "Are you coming?"

      "Yes." She glanced at Blake, who heaved a vast sigh and nodded. Soolin shrugged and followed Avon from the flight deck.

      Avon spent several hours checking the ship's computers for traces of sabotage, with Soolin peering suspiciously over his shoulder the whole time, or crawling down the narrow crawlspaces after him. She checked constantly with Orac until Orac became peeved and ordered her to be silent, promising to report anything threatening to the ship. Avon ignored her, his face icy. When he had run every test he knew, he withdrew from the computer room, pulling Orac behind him until he was clear, then stalked off without a backwards look. Soolin peered at the banks of computers suspiciously and followed him from the room. Then she went to report to Blake.

      The others had broken into smaller groups. She found Blake and Dayna on watch with Jenna playing 'Ships and Asteroids' on the monitor, ignoring the others. Though Soolin suspected Blake's relationship with Jenna was more than that of casual friendship, there was no evidence of it now. Jenna's expression was forbidding and when Soolin arrived, the glance she spared her was suspicious in the extreme.

      "Well, Soolin?" Blake asked, smiling at her.

      "Avon checked the system," Soolin reported. "Orac insists he did what he said he did. He's taken Orac to his quarters. Did you want me to follow him there?"

      "No, I'll send Cally. Jabberwocky is monitoring everyone and can report problems." He switched on the comm. "Cally?"

      "Yes, Blake," came Cally's filtered voice.

      "What is your location?"

      "I am in the rest room with Hugh, Tarrant and Vila."

      "Would you join Avon? He's in his quarters. I don't want anyone alone. Soolin's been with him, but I don't think he'd let her in."

      "I will go at once," Cally agreed and signed off.

      Blake turned back to Soolin. "Do you want to join the others or stay here?"

      "I'll join them for a while. But I'm tired, Blake, and I'd like to sleep soon."

      "Go along, then maybe you and Dayna could bunk together. I want Dayna down on Serna with us, and she needs her rest."

      "With _us_!" Jenna spun round from her game, her face shocked. "Blake, _you_ can't mean to go down there."

      "Perhaps you're right," agreed Blake, and Soolin narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Blake had originally planned to remain on board when they reached Serna, but now he was talking as though his presence in the landing party was a foregone conclusion. He might have decided to come along because of the new threat posed by the possibility of a sleeper agent - or he might _be_ the sleeper agent. Soolin didn't trust his easy acquiescence. But then Soolin seldom trusted anyone; she had learned not to. Hugh was her friend and she trusted him, and she trusted Blake, who had tried to help her come to terms with her isolation. But this was different, and she found she could no longer trust him. Hugh was probably still safe, but Blake? Even innocent, the man was behaving recklessly, and Soolin had little patience with foolhardy actions.

      But she could keep her own counsel and her face didn't change. "I'll join the others now, Blake," she announced. "Dayna, when you're ready to go to bed, contact me. There's a spare bunk in my cabin." Dayna nodded, and Soolin headed for the door, aware of Jenna's hostility and Blake's ambivalence behind her as she left.

      "Maybe we should just turn around and go the other way as fast as we can," Vila proposed, raising a glass of adrenaline and soma and toasting Tarrant and Hugh. "What's the worst thing that can happen if we do?"

      "The ship can be destroyed," Tarrant enumerated, checking off his suggestions on his fingers. "IMIPAK could be used to intimidate the outer worlds into submission. We could be killed. Would you like me to keep going?"

      "No," said Vila hastily, setting aside his drink. He wanted it more than ever now, but something prevented him from picking it up again. "You mean it's a no-win situation?"

      "I'm afraid so," Hugh told him. "The worst part is that the same things could happen if we do go to Serna. It's not so bad for you, Vila. No one suspects you of being a sleeper agent."

      "Why not?" Vila demanded, both affronted and relieved.

      "Even the Federation isn't foolish enough to entrust _you_ with our capture or death," said Tarrant. "They might as well condition a mutoid." He looked at the sandwich on his tray and grimaced in disgust. Vila didn't blame him. He didn't have much appetite right now either.

      "At least I'm not stupid enough to think I'm safe from Jabberwocky because of the link," Vila said triumphantly. He had rather enjoyed Tarrant's discomfiture when Avon had reminded him of Witt's fate. Jabberwocky might not be about to take deliberate action against his link-mate but he could passively refuse to filter out superfluous data, and the sudden influx of input could destroy a human's mind. Jabberwocky routinely regulated all that, but if Jabberwocky were the agent, he could perform his function without compunction. Vila repeated the last few words in his mind, mildly amused at the unexpected rhyme, then he looked at Tarrant who was glaring at him.

      "I doubt Del is the agent," Hugh said.

      "How can you be sure?" Vila cried. Right then Tarrant seemed a likely candidate.

      "I can't. But Tarrant piloted _Liberator_ for a year. The Federation wanted _Liberator_ badly. That would have been the ideal time to activate him. Besides, if he were the agent, Jabberwocky should be able to tell."

      "But what if Jabberwocky is the agent?"

      "Then Del isn't."

      "That doesn't work, Hugh," insisted Vila. "Maybe Tarrant's not the agent, but he's linked to Jabberwocky. If Jabberwocky's the sleeper, well, we've seen how Jabberwocky can influence his link-mate. Look what he had Blake doing when Blake was linked to him, causing trouble with Avon. Blake didn't realise what was happening either."

      "Oh, fine," Tarrant snapped. "I'm not the agent, but you suspect me anyway. You're more likely, Hugh. You came just before we got _Jabberwocky_. I don't say you were sitting there waiting on Dayson Prime on the off-chance we would come along, but once the Federation knew you'd joined us, they might have activated you. The timing is right for you or Soolin - or Jenna since she's just come back on board. If it isn't Jabberwocky - and I'm pretty sure it's not - I think it's one of the three of you."

      "Avon thinks it's me," Hugh said. Vila caught the regretful note in the doctor's voice and realised how much he minded Avon's suspicion. Hugh was a good friend to all of them, but Vila wondered if he didn't feel closer to Avon for reasons that the thief couldn't begin to guess. Avon had accepted the doctor more readily than Vila would have believed possible and they were almost friends. This was a definite setback. Even if Hugh were proven innocent, Avon would never apologise for his suspicions, and Hugh might expect it. However this turned out, there would be bruised feelings and it would be hard to get back on the old comfortable footing again.

      "When you think of it," Hugh continued, his voice hardening a little, "it could easily be Avon himself. We don't know what Servalan did to him on Terminal. A drug-induced and electronic dream seems the ideal framework for programming, and the timing is perfect. Now that Avon and Blake are together and they have the mindship, when better to activate him?" He looked up, caught Vila's intent stare and ducked his head again, reaching for Vila's abandoned glass and sliding it around on the table. "I'm sure it's Avon," he said, sounding as if that possibility hurt him more than Avon's suspicions did.

      "It can't be, can it?" Vila didn't want to believe it either. He'd been with Avon a long time, and if Avon was annoying, at least Vila had always believed that he was safe with Avon. Avon covered himself so well that people with him were protected too. If that was no longer true, Vila didn't know what was left.

      "Whoever it is, it's not his choice," Tarrant consoled them, sounding, for once, as if he'd picked up on their unhappiness. "Besides, Avon's bad enough on his own. And Soolin and Orac have been monitoring him."

      Soolin came in. "Monitoring Avon?" she echoed. "He checked out the computer system and everything's normal. Orac confirmed it."

      She came to the table, took the drink Tarrant passed her and sipped it slowly, smiling at the taste. "I heard what you said. Do you really think it's Avon?"

      "I think it could be any of us," Hugh said flatly.

      She raised her eyes to his. "You're insisting it's Avon because you're afraid it might be and you don't want to get your hopes up that it's not."

      "Something like that," Hugh mumbled. "You know me too well, Soolin."

      "You're better off not getting close to people," she insisted as if it were part of an ongoing argument. "That way, when they're fallible or betray you, it doesn't hurt as much."

      "Cally says the man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken," Vila put in.

      "Wonderful," retorted Soolin with a scornful look, "I'd be just as dead either way, wouldn't l?"

      Vila sagged back unhappily in his chair. "Who do you think it is, Soolin?" he asked. The gunfighter was suspicious by nature and she might have noticed something the others failed to see.

      "I don't know," she said. "I'm afraid it could be Blake." She frowned unhappily. "It could have happened since Star One. Nobody seems to have thought of that. Now he's talking about going down to Serna. I don't trust him."

      "Surprise, surprise," Vila retorted. "The day you do trust someone, I'll run up the flag."

      "Don't get your hopes up," she told him. "It won't be you."

      Shortly before _Jabberwocky_ achieved orbit around Serna, Avon left his cabin and headed for the flight deck.

      Halfway there he encountered Hugh coming towards him, and the two men stopped, eyeing each other with wary suspicion. "What are you doing alone?" Hugh demanded before Avon could speak, which annoyed him.

      "The question should be, rather, what are _you_ doing alone?" Avon replied. "I thought Blake in all his wisdom had ordered that no one should be unaccompanied."

      "He managed to overlook shift changes then," Hugh snapped. "I've been on watch with Tarrant. He's still there. And you and I aren't the only ones who have been alone," he finished.

      Since Avon was on his way to the flight deck to take his watch, he could not refute that part of the argument, but now he asked suspiciously, "Who else have you seen alone?"

      "Blake for one. He came in half an hour ago to check on us. Soolin says Blake could have been conditioned between Star One and the time you met him again on Gauda Prime."

      Avon felt the muscles in his jaw tighten at the reminder of Gauda Prime. Ordinarily, Hugh was the most tactful of men. Though he could push Avon harder than Blake did sometimes, it wasn't like him to throw Gauda Prime in Avon's face. "I am aware of that," he said. "Who else?"

      "Tarrant's alone on the flight deck now, but we have to consider his link to Jabberwocky. I don't think Jabberwocky has any conditioning but that doesn't matter as long as Jabberwocky can manipulate Tarrant. Tarrant's alert to the possibility."

      "Wonderful," Avon replied. "Naturally that will prevent Jabberwocky from manipulating him."

      "I haven't manipulated him yet, have I, Avon?" Jabberwocky cut in. "I won't either. You might be my father, but Del's my link-mate and I won't hurt him."

      "I'm sure Witt would appreciate that distinction."

      "You can be annoying sometimes, Avon," Jabberwocky retorted. "You think you have all the answers, even when you don't. I don't know why you can't trust us after all we've been through together. You saved my sanity, and I know you well, but you still keep your distance, and I don't like it. It's annoying."

      "My humble apologies," Avon ground out. "Incidents like this prove that trust can be futile."

      "Oh, come on, Avon," Hugh joined in. "Nobody on this ship wants to hurt you or any of us. Better to find out who's been conditioned - if any of us - and uncondition them. It could even be you, and it could have happened on Terminal."

      "I am aware of that!" Avon said. In spite of his deliberate distance from others, he did not care for the reluctant suspicion on Hugh's face. "I have asked Orac to monitor my behaviour at all times," he conceded. "And the behaviour of the rest of you. Now tell me who else you have seen alone."

      "Soolin. She came to the flight deck a few hours ago. She said Dayna was sleeping and she was wide-awake. I'd guess that Cally's alone now too."

      "She is sleeping."

      "Or feigning sleep." Hugh grimaced. "I hate this. It's tearing us apart. I don't want to suspect you, Avon. Oddly enough, I'd come to trust you. I still do."

      "More fool you, then."

      "Do you think so?" Hugh grinned tiredly. "You don't want to hurt us any more than we want to hurt you."

      Avon frowned. "Why do you say that, other than stupidity?"

      "Because, as you've said, you've asked Orac to monitor your behaviour."

      "That," Avon insisted, "was for protection. I have no wish to fall into Federation hands."

      "I see." Hugh must have decided not to push it, for he said, "Do you still think this is a trap?"

      "Anyone who believes anything else is taking a huge risk." Avon pushed past and strode toward the flight deck, aware of Hugh's eyes on his back the whole way.

      He had been there perhaps minutes, virtually ignoring Tarrant, when Blake arrived. "Are we there yet?"

      "Not yet," Tarrant replied, studying the forward screens. "We'll be there in another twenty minutes. I've been picking up traces of ships for the past few minutes, some in orbit, some leaving. Nothing coming directly for us, and the detector shield is up."

      "Orac?" Blake asked, inserting the key, "We are nearing Serna. Any problems?"

      "I have detected no transmissions involving the ship, nor has there been behaviour that has threatened us."

      "What about you, Jabberwocky" Blake asked. "Have you picked up anything?"

      "Not a thing, Roj. I've kept an eye on anybody who wandered off alone, and they could all justify it. I've just run a systems check and there's no trace of sabotage. I've got Soolin and Vila checking the teleport. Cally will monitor communications; she's on her way here now. We'll need to bring you up right away if there are problems."

      "If someone's determined to prevent that, we could still be captured," declared Avon.

      "You're always so gloomy," Jabberwocky told him. "I'm starting to get tired of it. You'll have every safeguard possible. Nobody gets total guarantees, do they?"

      Avon ignored him.

      Orac reported eventually that the twenty-ship fleet had arrived on Serna, made their delivery, and departed without delay. Governor Relk had followed his instructions to the letter. The sealed container had been placed in the top-security cell designed for total protection.

      "The unmarked container reported to contain IMIPAK is visible at all times via closed-circuit viewscreen in security headquarters. The doors are both pressure-resistant and heat-sensitive and the room can be rigged to respond to air circulation and human heartbeat."

      Vila, who had been summoned along with the rest of the crew, listened with a grimace.

      "Is it possible, Vila?" Blake asked.

      "Oh, it's possible, Blake. Not quite as possible as getting our heads blown off but it's possible. With the right equipment, most of that can be bypassed. Avon can rig a tape loop to give security an uninterrupted view of the container, and I have the proper equipment for the rest of it. The fewer people down there the better, though."

      "Who?" asked Blake.

      "Not you," replied Vila promptly. For the moment, while it was still theoretical, he knew best and wouldn't relinquish his position in the spotlight to anyone. He would complain like mad when the time came to go down, but that couldn't be helped. Avon grimaced. Vila could be insufferable.

      Blake accepted that reluctantly. "Who, then?"

      "Avon for the computers," Vila announced. Well, Avon knew that already. "And Dayna. Maybe she can tell if we've got IMIPAK or just a replica."

      "Besides," he went on, "She's good with weapons and can bring a few of her nasty explosives to discourage the Federation."

      "That's enough then," Blake said. "I don't want any of us caught, but the fewer of us there are, the less likely we'll be to set off alarms."

      "And the fewer of us you will have to risk," Avon pointed out sourly. "Thank you for your concern, Blake."

      "Damn it, Avon, you know how concerned I am." He caught Avon's eyes and held them determinedly. Avon looked away from the open affection and concern visible there.

      "If it's a trap, all of us couldn't fight it," Cally put in. "The fewer of us who go down the better, and the rest of us will monitor everything from up here."

      Vila looked like he wanted to be sick. "Just don't leave the teleport unattended," he said. "We might want to come up in a hurry."

      Orac determined they should go down at twilight, which was two hours after the shift change in the security section. They would be teleported within the base security section. Orac had given Vila a print out of the entire area and the systems set up to prevent intrusion, and Vila had studied it at length, looking more unhappy by the minute. Blake assigned Tarrant and Jenna to the flight deck in case they had to get away in a hurry or fight. Cally would monitor base communications from her flight deck position and Hugh and Soolin would man the teleport. Blake intended to alternate between flight deck and the teleport, though Vila said if they were on the surface for more than an hour, they would be in serious trouble.

      Blake went with the shore party to the teleport section, where Hugh and Soolin were waiting with Orac. "We've done a systems check," Hugh reported when they arrived. "Orac reports no problems."

      Soolin nodded. Blake noticed both she and Hugh were armed in preparation for teleport in case of an emergency. He hoped that neither of them was the sleeper agent because giving that person a weapon could lead to trouble, but it couldn't be avoided. If this was a simple trap with no spy on board, everyone had to be prepared for it.

      "Are you ready, Vila?" Blake asked.

      "No. I'm not ready at all, Blake. Isn't there a better way?"

      "If there were, we would use it," Blake said shortly. He had scant patience with Vila's fears right now. If IMIPAK's function were known to anyone on the planet he and Avon were in danger already. Perhaps the plan was not to capture _Jabberwocky_ as much as it was to kill _him_. If that were the case, the device could be activated as soon as someone on the surface realised they were here.

      Dayna checked her gun. _Jabberwocky's_ weapons had been designed to function as the one that Soolin had brought with her from _Scorpio_ , so that by inserting a clip of designated purpose, the weapon could stun, kill or disintegrate. Dayna's was set on kill. She was not the type to take chances.

      "We'll need an hour, Blake," Vila said. "No more. If we haven't called in an hour, bring us up anyway."

      "Assuming we haven't been captured and our bracelets removed," Avon pointed out. He turned to Blake. "Going down to this planet exceeds any acceptable safety level, Blake. In the unlikely event that we should survive this, I will need to reassess my priorities."

      "You can yell at me all you like once we've got IMIPAK," Blake told him. "When we're safe, I guarantee to listen."

      "Until next time," Avon said sourly. "Know this. If IMIPAK were not a threat to my own existence, I would have left this ship at the first mention of the mission. I am still considering doing so."

      "Where would you go?" Hugh asked. "Come on, Avon, you know this is where you belong."

      "Do l?" Avon clipped on his teleport bracelet and checked the setting of his gun. He was taking no chances, Blake noted. It was set on disintegrate.

      "Put us down," he said, as if he had become impatient with the discussion.

      "Be careful, Avon," Blake cautioned him.

      "Of course. Teleporting into a high security area into what is certainly a trap is the surest sign of caution I know."

      "Oh, shut up, Avon," Vila muttered. "Let's get it over with. I'll have nightmares after this, I know I will."

      "Soolin can hold your hand," Avon suggested.

      Soolin glared at Avon as she activated the teleport. The three of them shivered and vanished.

      Blake waited until Avon called in. "Down and relatively safe," he said with sarcasm. "We have not yet been detected. We will check in at ten minute intervals."

      "Be careful," Hugh told him before signing off. He turned to Blake. "Do you think Dayna can watch him in case he's our sleeper?"

      "That's why I wanted her down there, that and because I think she can identify IMIPAK best. Avon will know the look, but Dayna will know the function. We've all agreed that Dayna is probably not the sleeper. I've instructed her to watch Avon and Vila for any sign of conditioning."

      "While the rest of us watch each other," Soolin said. "Orac, run another teleport check."

      "The teleport is functioning exactly as it was at the time of our last check," Orac huffed. "Kindly do not interfere with my functions by demanding redundant checks."

      Soolin grinned. "I have a feeling this will be a very long day."

      

      

The landing party materialised in a dimly-lit passageway just down the corner from a cross passage, and once Avon had signalled the ship, he advanced to the other hall, gun at the ready. Vila consulted his map and followed. "We want to go that way," he whispered, pointing.

      Dayna came behind them, covering their backs. Though this kind of mission was different from the life she had known on Sarran, the principle was the same; they would be eluding the Federation rather than the Sarrans, but the penalty would be just as high if they were caught.

      No one was about, and that worried Dayna. Orac had informed them that they would be teleporting at mealtime so most of the base personnel would be in the mess area, but in a high-security section, meals would be staggered to provide for constant security. Dayna remembered the time she and her adopted sister Lauren had sneaked into Chel's camp and had been surprised at the fact that there seemed to be no guards. It was only when they were well within the camp that she had realised that the Sarran leader had been advised of their approach by scouts and had pulled in his perimeter guards to lure them into the centre of the camp. That had been the closest Dayna had ever come to being taken by the Sarrans and in the weeks that followed, as she nursed her wounds, she had considered the lesson that she had learned. When it was too easy, it usually meant a trap.

      Following this line of thought, she tiptoed forward and touched Avon on the shoulder. He spun, pulling up his gun at the last instant, favouring her with a disgusted look.

      "Avon, can they jam our communications or prevent teleport?"

      "Nothing easier, I should think. They have the technology." He smiled, but Dayna found nothing reassuring in it. "We might have to bring IMIPAK out of the maximum-security area to teleport."

      "I feel sick," muttered Vila under his breath.

      "Must you always speak your mind?" Dayna shot at Vila, annoyed at his complaining.

      "Oh, but he must," Avon returned. "Consequently, he is a man of very few words."

      "I think I've just been insulted," Vila favoured Avon with a dark glare.

      Dayna grinned. "All this and perception too? Vila, you're coming on."

      The tension momentarily defused, Vila ventured into the corridor, heading for the maximum-security area. The base seemed sparsely populated at first and they met no one. Then, as they neared the entrance to IMIPAK's containment, they heard voices approaching and Vila pointed at a door. "In there, quick."

      They ducked into the office only to find it occupied by a portly balding man in a Federation uniform, who jerked to his feet, eyes wide and startled. "Don't hurt me," he gasped out. "I won't give you away."

      "You will not be given the opportunity," Avon insisted, pulling the man away from his desk in case he had an alarm there. "Tie him up, Dayna," he instructed. "I don't want any shooting unless we have no choice."

      "I won't give you away," the man insisted. "I promise."

      "I promise you won't either," Dayna agreed as she began to secure him.

      "You terrorists are all the same," the man complained bitterly as she pulled his hands behind his back.

      "Terrorists?" she echoed. "Why do you think we're terrorists?"

      "You're Blake's people, aren't you?"

      Before Dayna could jam a gag in his mouth, Avon put out a hand to halt her. "Just a minute, Dayna." He turned to the officer. "What makes you think we're Blake's people?" he asked.

      "Because they're expecting us?" Vila suggested. "Avon, we've got to get out of here."

[ ](http://s77.photobucket.com/user/hermitlibraryarchivist/media/Jabberwocky%20Part%205%20Dayna%20and%20Vila_zpszfxq3edh.jpg.html)

      Dayna saw a furious calculation going on behind the man's eyes. He might have seemed innocuous but he wasn't. There was a shrewd mind here, and she knew he would probably lie, and as Vila feared, knew who they were because they were expected. He didn't disappoint her either. "Because you're Kerr Avon," he told Avon. "I recognise you and I know your reputation. I'm surprised you don't just kill me out of hand."

      "I would kill you in a moment if it were necessary," Avon told him, adding a different voice, "but it is unnecessary. Don't look for anything personal in your survival." He nodded to Dayna and she secured the gag, pushing the man down and out of direct sight of anyone coming into the room.

      Vila put his ear to the door. "They're gone," he announced. "I wish we were too. Avon, our real trouble starts now. Around the next corner's the entrance to maximum security. It'll be guarded. It can't not be."

      Avon nodded. "Dayna, what do you have for us?"

      She took a tiny, wheeled device from her supply pouch. "Knockout gas, Avon. It won't give a very satisfying bang, but it will immobilise them instantly." She set the timer. "Ready. Let's go."

      Pausing just around the corner, Dayna set her device on the floor. She could hear the faint drone of the guards' voices; she thought there were four of them. Raising her eyes to Avon, she gave a little nod, and he mouthed the word, "Go." She let the device go and it zipped around the corner. Mentally she counted off six seconds, then nodded. The voices had stopped; she heard several bodies fall. "It should be clear, Avon," she told him, but his gun didn't waver as he rounded the corner

      The guards were sprawled unconscious and didn't stir when the landing party approached. Avon prodded one of them with his toe. "How long will they be out?"

      "At least an hour."

      Avon nodded. "Get busy on the door, Vila," he ordered, and Vila complied, muttering under his breath about bossy people and timed lock cycles while Avon dragged the bodies into a nearby storeroom out of sight and Dayna stood guard. It seemed to take Vila forever to open the door, thought Dayna, as she waited in the corridor behind him using her hunting instincts to sense approaching trouble. Avon watched Vila's fingers move, producing one tool after another. Finally, when Dayna thought her nerves would stretch as thin as fine wire, Vila muttered, "Got it," under his breath and the door swung open.

      Avon and Dayna aimed their guns at the slowly opening door but there was no one on the other side. Avon dropped out of his gunfighter stance - Dayna must remember to describe it to Soolin, who would appreciate it. "A little anticlimactic," he said deprecatingly, relaxing not at all.

      "There's your computer." Vila pointed to an alcove full of computer hardware. Avon went to it and studied it, then sat down and did something to the keyboard that called up views of the various rooms in the security complex. To no one's surprise, many of them were cells, holding prisoners.

      "I wonder who they are," Dayna said, looking over Avon's shoulder at a series of weary, bitter or sleeping faces in a series of identical cubicles.

      "Enemies of the Federation." Avon's lips parted in a sour smile. "Ah, here we are." The prisoners gave way to rooms containing boxes, supplies and other materials. It wasn't hard to find IMIPAK. The crate was actually stencilled 'IMIPAK' in large letters. Avon shook his head. "This is too easy."

      "What about the tape loop?" asked Vila. "Can you set it up here?"

      "I can," Avon remarked. "I should doubt that anyone else this side of Earth could do so. But it will take time."

      "How long?" asked Dayna. "We're operating on a tight schedule."

      "Fifteen minutes," Avon replied, already working. "You realise I may trigger something here."

      "You had to say that, didn't you?" Vila accused unhappily. "Avon, I don't like it here."

      "You are hardly the backup I would choose. Suppose you make yourself useful - if such is possible - by preparing your equipment for the task ahead. You know the dangers. Compensate. Dayna, call the ship and report in." He became involved in the screen before him and missed the nasty look that Vila gave him. Dayna grinned at the thief, who ignored her as he dug equipment from his kit, then she called in.

      It seemed to take forever. Vila was ready long before Avon had finished, and he occupied his time by pacing about and muttering complaints. Avon ignored him with considerable fortitude, but Dayna wouldn't have been in Vila's shoes for anything. "It's done," Avon said at last. "We are running short of time. I suggest we proceed immediately. Vila, we are now in your hands." He grimaced. "What a disgusting thought."

      "I'll remind you you said that when we're back on the ship."

      "If we should be so lucky, I will even allow myself to be grateful," Avon conceded and followed Vila into the section.

      

      "Lieutenant Sleer? The bait has been taken."

      Servalan looked up at the officer who had entered her quarters on the vessel assigned her by Supreme Commander Arpel. Though Captain Laird outranked her, she was treated with the deference due to the Supreme Commander's representative, and she liked the feel of it, though she disliked the reason. She was entitled to respect on her own merits and she planned that it would not be long before she received it. When the story of this mission came out, or at least her own version of the truth, it would look bad for Arpel. She had planned it that way.

      "Thank you, Captain. They are on the base now?"

      "They have arranged a tape loop to give the appearance that IMIPAK is still safe. If reports of Restal's skills are correct, they should be approaching the hiding place now."

      "Have you sent the second trigger?"

      "It is being sent right now."

      "Excellent. Once the landing party is taken, I will interrogate them. Until that time, we will remain here, shielded by the planet, so that the mindship will not detect us."

      "As you wish, Sleer. But I do not see how taking the landing party will give you the mindship."

      "Because the programmed individual is not in the handing party, Laird. We will have access to the ship itself shortly now."

      "As you say." He grinned suddenly. "I can't wait to see the mindship. I'd sell my soul to captain a vessel like that."

      "I worked with Major Weed on the mindship project," she reminded him. "That is why I was chosen to lead this mission. The mindship will be loyal to the resisters now. It will be dangerous to try to take it even with our agent on board. You and your men will be of great help there." _I think the term was cannon fodder._ She smiled. "Notify me the moment the landing party has been apprehended," she said dismissively.

      

      They found no guards inside the maximum security area. It consisted of a series of passageways, unlabelled except for a series of markings at each intersection. They were in no known language, so they might have been code signals or simply a method of counting. Dayna trailed behind Avon, who seemed able to read them without difficulty, her gun at ready. Evidently tense, Vila didn't hesitate either but led the way to a sealed door with what looked like a horribly complex locking system. "In here, Avon," he murmured.

      Avon nodded and raised his bracelet to make one of his periodic reports. "We've reached the doorway."

      "How much longer?" came Blake's voice.

      Avon cocked an eyebrow at Vila, who was scanning the locking system with a tool. "Three minutes," said Vila loud enough for Blake to hear.

      "A bit slow," Avon remarked. "The interior of the room may be shielded, Blake. We'll bring IMIPAK out before we teleport. Make sure someone is ready to teleport us immediately."

      "We're ready for you, Avon," Hugh put in.

      Avon broke contact as Vila worked on the door. Dayna watched him a moment, amazed as she always was when Vila worked, at how calm and professional he seemed. She knew the minute the door was open he would revert to type and start complaining or turn into a dead loss, but at times like these, he was a different man. She shook her head and tiptoed down the corridor to stand guard.

      It took just under three minutes. Vila let out a muffled exclamation, "I've done it! Avon, I've done it," that drew her back beside them. Carefully Vila eased open the door and they entered, Vila consulting his scanners. Then he stopped dead and put out an arm to halt them. "No, wait," he breathed. "It's a force field."

      "How long will that take to break down?" Dayna imitated Vila's low tones, but her heart sank at the thought of more delay.

      "Not as long as it took us to get into the base when we first stole _Jabberwocky_ ," Vila replied, working even as he spoke.

      "Can you do it before the tape loop runs out, Vila?" Avon demanded.

      Vila glanced at the device he'd been pointing at the force field. "Just," he said, setting up a probe on a tripod. Avon watched impatiently until Vila turned and glared at him. "Breathing down my neck won't make it happen any faster," he retorted. "Don't go waving that gun around unless you want to end up like Bayban."

      Avon jerked his head up, affronted. Dayna smothered a giggle. Three days ago she had been watching one of _Jabberwocky's_ library tapes and there had been an extinct animal called a camel which often wore a look exactly like Avon's present one. When the computer expert cast a cold and inquiring eye in her direction, she sobered up instantly.

      "Guard the door," Avon told her shortly.

      Dayna obeyed. She peered down the corridor and saw no one. Orac had promised the least personnel at this time, but it seemed like their luck had been remarkably good so far. She was sure this was a trap and that it would be sprung at any moment. Behind her, she could hear Avon demanding an exact time from Vila, who was beginning to exhibit signs of nervousness with nothing to do but wait. Dayna came back into the room, hoping to prevent an argument.

      "No one's out there." She gestured toward the box. "Are you sure that's IMIPAK?"

      "That is why you are here, surely." Avon waved her back to the door. "Make sure no one comes up on us."

      Avon must be far more nervous than she was. If someone caught them and operated IMIPAK, he would be the first to die. All along he had insisted this was a trap, but if he was proven right, he would be the one to suffer for it, not Blake. Sometimes Blake took too much upon himself, thought Dayna. Though Avon was Blake's friend, he was not blind to his faults. Yet here he was. Dayna shook her head. Understanding Avon had never been one of her top priorities. Some things were impossible and better left alone.

      Just when she could stand the waiting no longer, Vila let out a crow of triumph. "It's done," he exulted, beginning to dismantle his equipment. Dayna noticed that Avon went forward without hesitation and reached for the box. Vila followed and looked at the fasteners. "It's not locked," he said, surprised. "It's packed secure, but it's not locked."

      Avon, who had already discovered this surprising fact, frowned as if he expected the trap to be sprung right then. But he removed the lid and some of the packing, then drew back as if a snake had struck him. "IMIPAK!" he said.

      Dayna abandoned the doorway and looked over his shoulder. She saw a long rifle-like piece and what must be the key, carefully embedded in a plastex mould to keep them stable. Her curiosity aroused, she leaned forward.

      "Don't touch it," Avon shot at her.

      "I wasn't going to touch it. I just wanted to see what I could tell from looking at it," she replied

      "Could it be the real thing?" he asked.

      "It could. I can't tell without further study." She leaned close and studied the contents as best she could. "We'd better get it to the ship."

      Avon and Vila picked up the container between them and carried it out into the corridor while Dayna covered them. At once Avon raised his bracelet. "Teleport now," he ordered. Nothing happened.

      

      "Blake," Cally called, listening intently to the transmissions in her earphones. She had been monitoring open signals from the base on Serna while Orac monitored any other transmissions less readily available. So far, routine broadcasts had been dull; entertainment programs, local news, non-classified messages to and from Space Command Headquarters, advertisements. Nothing had sounded threatening or suspicious, and there was no reason to believe they had been detected or that the landing party was in jeopardy. Cally had been bored and had passed the time by slipping into link-mode with Jabberwocky for assistance. She was positive that Jabberwocky was not programmed and previous links with him convinced her she would be able to detect any trouble in linkage. So far nothing had emerged, and she was comfortable in the knowledge that if any one in the crew began to behave suspiciously Jabberwocky would report it.

      Tarrant had sensed her entry into link-mode but he didn't comment or respond other than a general acknowledgement of her presence. Cally had reached the conclusion that link-mode had been good for Tarrant. Starting to develop and mature before they went to Terminal, Tarrant had done well since, though he was still prone to impulsive behaviour. Cally had been less than impressed with Tarrant at first, but she was getting to like him more these days.

      In linkage, she could sense his tension. He was concerned for the landing party, even Avon and Vila, and from the way he continually monitored the space lanes, he was prepared for attack. She knew it could happen. With both Jabberwocky and Orac checking for danger, they might have a running start, but it could still be dangerous.

      Jenna's job on the flight deck today was to back Tarrant in case either he or Jabberwocky had been programmed. Then, she could take the ship out under manual control. She looked uneasy and impatient and though she sat with seeming unconcern, her restlessness manifested itself in tapping her fingers against the arm rest, her eyes flicking from Blake to Tarrant and back again. Cally knew Jenna found the ship fascinating and she tended to resent Tarrant's position as primary pilot, since she was the more experienced pilot. Jenna believed she should be Jabberwocky's link-mate but she was far more patient about it than Cally had expected, and the Auron wondered if it was because she didn't want to risk the position she had already. Either that or she didn't want it to interfere with her growing relationship with Blake. Cally glanced at Blake, who sat in the command chair, with a weapon in his hand. He didn't seem to realise he was holding it, which should have worried her, but she knew his preoccupation arose out of concern for Avon and the others, and she couldn't fault him for that. Blake had driven them hard to come here, he'd believed it necessary and he'd pushed for it, and now he had no excuse to go down and share the risk. If anything happened to Avon, Vila and Dayna, Blake would blame himself for it. He was good at self-recriminations, was Blake. It was right that the commander assume responsibility for the safety of his crew, but it was wrong to get too torn up over it. If guilt interfered with his ability to function, he could endanger the rest of the crew. Cally liked Blake and she believed in his cause, but she sometimes worried about him. A seasoned resistance fighter before joining _Liberator_ , Cally had sometimes believed Blake too soft, though he had an unexpected hard edge at times. Cally had gone along with some of his more daring plans in the past because she'd believed them necessary, worth the risk. When she took a risk, she accepted it and could live with the consequences, but sometimes Blake couldn't. The dull sense of uneasiness that prickled at the back of Cally's neck and led her to expect danger, warned her that this might be one time when Blake might have to face consequences more severe than he had anticipated.

      Cally had begun to consider her reactions should anything happen to Avon, when she picked up the transmission. It was aimed at them personally and it clearly meant trouble. "Jabberwocky. Remember: All men kill the things they love." It was read twice. Cally recalled Avon quoting the poem the initial phrase was from and knew with a sinking heart that the original message had indeed been a trigger phrase. This one would be the activator.

      "Blake," she called. "I have received a second code phrase. I think we are in very grave danger." She did not repeat the trigger phrase. There was no sense in looking for trouble.

      Blake raised his gun though he didn't aim it at any of them. "Jabberwocky, monitor everyone on board and report any trace of dangerous behaviour," he ordered.

      "I'm already doing that," Jabberwocky replied. "So far, nothing's wrong. Everybody's still acting normally. We're getting close to the wire though. Maybe I'd better have the landing party teleported up while we've still got the chance. What do you think, Roj?"

      "Not yet. We've got to give them a chance to get IMIPAK. They've still got time left. Can you link with them and see if they're having any trouble?"

      "They can't call from the interior. It's shielded. But once they get out - Wait!" There was a note of alarm in Jabberwocky's voice that drew Cally to her feet and made Tarrant brace himself.

      "What is it?"

      "They're ready to come up," Jabberwocky reported. "They've called for teleport but they haven't been teleported."

      "Why not?" cried Jenna.

      Jabberwocky didn't answer, and Cally hoped he was responding to the crisis and not causing it. Blake jumped up and headed for the door. "I'm going down there," he shouted. "Take over, Del."

      She and Tarrant exchanged worried glances. Tarrant, deeper into link-mode than she was, suddenly paled. "Oh no!"

      "What?" Jenna demanded, but Tarrant was concentrating and didn't reply.

 

 

 

 

 

[ ](http://s77.photobucket.com/user/hermitlibraryarchivist/media/Jabberwocky%20Part%205%20Soolin_zpswzvqruhj.jpg.html)

      "What's taking them so long?" Soolin demanded impatiently.

      Hugh grinned at her. "You're not very good at waiting, are you?" he asked. He had come to know Soolin well since she had joined the crew and he was fond of her, but he knew better than to expect her to be patient in a crisis situation. She would rather be in the thick of it, gun in hand. Hugh's nature was the opposite of hers; he preferred any other option to killing, though he could do it if necessary, but Soolin never hesitated. He supposed the loss of her family had hardened her much as it had caused her to insulate herself from the people around her. In spite of their differences, he liked her, enjoying her wry humour and her understated loyalty, and though he had not pressed for a more intimate relationship, he had half expected that there could be a chance of more closeness between them one day.

      Now he shared her impatience. He hated this whole mission though he had felt, like Blake, that it was necessary. If IMIPAK was down there, it could not be left in Federation hands. Hugh loathed the whole concept of IMIPAK and hoped it could be neutralised. As a doctor, he preferred to put an end to a weapon that was automatically fatal. The Federation was bad enough, but they would be ever so much worse with power like that. He was afraid the idea of IMIPAK would not be abandoned. If this was Servalan's trap, she would want to keep the secret and they would find a non-working model if they found anything at all. If it wasn't Servalan's plan, the danger was still greater. Servalan would not yet have regained enough power to repress the weapon - she lacked the rank to get away with as much as she had when she was President and Supreme Commander - though she would try and might succeed. Hugh almost hoped it was her trap, in spite of the risk. At least the rest of the galaxy would be safe. He could imagine Avon's scorn should he voice so altruistic a sentiment.

      But Avon was below, risking his life to find out one way or another. Hugh and Avon had not parted on the best of terms, each suspicious of the other, and Hugh thought one of the worst things the Federation did was to turn friends against each other. In spite of Avon's cold and intolerant nature, Hugh counted him a friend. He couldn't say why he liked Avon so much, but he did. He even suspected that Avon liked him, though Avon had never given voice to such a sentiment and wasn't likely to in future. The closest Hugh was likely to get from Avon was the annoyed suspicion Avon had flung at him. If Avon had regarded him with indifference, he would have shown his suspicion with the same coldness he reserved for his declared enemies.

      Soolin interrupted Hugh's musings with a sigh. "No, I'm not much good at waiting passively," she admitted. "I'd rather be doing something. I don't know what. How much longer do you think they'll be?"

      "I don't know." He turned to Orac. "Orac, have you picked up anything useful?"

      "I have picked up a transmission directed at this ship."

      "Well?" Soolin asked impatiently. "What is it?"

      "Repeating the message could be dangerous."

      Soolin caught Hugh's eye: "Repeat it anyway. If we're in danger, I want to know about it."

      "Very well, but I caution against it, Soolin."

      "Repeat it," she prodded. "We need to know, Orac."

      "Oh, very well. The message is as follows: Jabberwocky. Remember: All men kill the things they love."

      Hugh felt a sudden premonition of impending disaster. "Damn, it's a second trigger phrase. It's a trap after all. Orac, did they pick it up on the flight deck?"

      "It was broadcast on an open transmission but only Cally heard and she was wise enough to keep it private."

      "Is there any sign of suspicious behaviour?"

      "Affirmative," Orac replied. "Soolin is pointing a weapon at you."

      Hugh jerked round to find Soolin's gun aimed at his midsection. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "Put that down."

      There was a tortured look in her eyes. "I can't; I'm sorry, Hugh. I can't let you bring them up."

      "It's you," he said unnecessarily. "You're the one who was conditioned."

      "I didn't know it," she replied. "I thought it was Blake. But I can't stop. Move away from the teleport, or I'll have to shoot you."

      It was then that Avon's voice came over the speaker. "Teleport now."

      "I've got to bring them up." Hugh stretched out a tentative hand toward the levers only to be brought up short when she jerked the gun peremptorily.

      "You will move away from the teleport," she intoned in a zombie-like voice, though he could see the struggle in her eyes. So Soolin still held some measure of control. If he could draw that part of her to the surface, he might break her conditioning. But there wasn't time for that because Avon called again. "Bring us up quickly." He sounded both angry and worried as if they were running out of time.

      "You won't shoot me, Soolin," Hugh said soothingly. "It's me, Hugh. I'm your friend. They're your friends down there in trouble. Let me bring them up. Put the gun down." He inched his fingers closer to the controls.

      Her body trembled and the gun shook in her hand as she fought against the impetus of her programming. He didn't think she could break out of it so easily, but Avon was again demanding teleport, and even Soolin, who was half out of her head with the pressure could sense his danger, for she cast a desperate look at him. "I don't want to hurt you, Hugh," she cried. "Please, move out of the way."

      "I can't," he returned and dove for the controls as a voice cried, "Look out, Hugh, I'll do it." As he recognised Jabberwocky's voice and realised that the computer could operate the controls without putting himself at risk, he tried to pull back and let him, but his movement had broken Soolin's control and she cried, "No," even as she fired.

      The shot took him in the arm and the pain was overwhelming. He gasped and staggered, arrested halfway to the controls, and for a moment, he hung there, leaning against the console, feeling the strength sucked out of his body.

      The levers operated as Jabberwocky worked them and Hugh, realising that Soolin might shoot Avon and the others the moment they materialised, gathered what strength he had left and lunged at her, as she blurred before him, tears glittering on her cheeks as she fired a second time.

      He didn't think it hit him but he was falling anyway. "Jabberwocky," he gasped as he collapsed, "Protect the others." As the landing party sparked into existence on the platform, he felt consciousness leave him and he wondered if he was dying.

      

      Vila shivered. "Why don't they answer?" he demanded. Avon threw him a scornful look and called in again, more urgently. "Bring us up quickly." Balancing the case containing IMIPAK with one hand, he'd been forced to put away his gun to call in and Vila, aware of sounds in the background that could be pursuit or approaching danger, raised his own gun with the hand that wasn't grasping the other side of IMIPAK's box. Dayna tensed and looked down the corridor, ready for action.

      At that moment, every alarm on the base went off.

      "Oh no," wailed Vila. "They're going to get us."

      "Jabberwocky, respond," Avon ordered. "Teleport now. We're running out of time."

      A shot echoed through the passage, the bolt just missing Dayna, who returned fire. A moment later, the teleport began to take them, and not a moment too soon.

      There was an ancient expression, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Vila had heard it before but he'd never thought much of it because he didn't understand the archaic reference, but as they materialised aboard _Jabberwocky_ , the meaning of the saying suddenly became crystal clear. Hugh collapsed before his horrified eyes and Soolin, shaking as if she were sick, swung around the gun that must have shot him and pointed it at them.

      For a moment, time seemed to freeze, and Vila was very conscious of the sound of someone thudding down the passage toward the teleport section, though he knew whoever it was wouldn't arrive in time. He was also aware of the fact that Avon's and Dayna's guns were at lethal settings. Soolin must have been conditioned, and that would mean it wasn't entirely her fault. If Avon shot her, she would be dead and there would be no second chances.

      Then time speeded up again as Vila, his gun already pointing in the right direction fired in one smooth movement an instant before Avon did. His reflexes had never been better - and his gun was set on stun. Soolin cried out and fell, just as Blake burst into the room. Avon's shot barely missed him, taking out a section of bulkhead.

      After a dangerous moment when everybody was aiming at everybody else, Jabberwocky said quickly, "Soolin was conditioned. She shot Hugh to keep him from teleporting. I've had Del take us out of orbit. Better put Soolin in restraints. Quick thinking, Vila, to stun her. I was going to link with her and make her drop the gun, but this was faster. I've sent for Cally. Besides Hugh, she's had the most experience at dealing with injuries. Take him to the medical unit quickly. The rest of you better get to the flight deck in case we have to fight." Having dealt with everything, he shut up.

      Avon looked down at Soolin's form and Vila got the idea he would have liked to kick her. "Get her out of here," he snarled. Lowering IMIPAK to the floor, he turned away, and Vila, freed of the unwieldy package, went with Dayna to pick Hugh up. Avon came close and stared over Vila's shoulder. "It looks messy but not fatal." Then, as if satisfied, he headed for the flight deck, taking Orac with him.

      Blake lifted Soolin as if she weighed nothing. "Dayna, you'd better come to the flight deck once Hugh's in bed," he ordered and led the way out, calling, "Jabberwocky, you and Orac see if you can scan IMIPAK."

      Things happened quickly after that. Once Blake had Soolin in restraints, he went running off to the flight deck, passing Cally in the doorway. As soon as Hugh was on the diagnostic bed, Dayna left too.

      "How is he?" Cally demanded briskly, replacing Dayna at Hugh's side.

      "I don't know," said Vila in a small voice. "There's a lot of blood." He said quickly, "I don't think it's serious though. He'll need a transfusion, and it's messy, but he should be all right."

      Cally nodded in agreement, setting up the diagnostic equipment. "I'll need to stabilise him, Vila," she said. "You will assist me."

      "I will?" Vila asked unhappily. "Listen, I've never been very good at things like this. Squeamish, you know." He caught the hard look Cally threw at him and shrugged his shoulders resignedly. "What do you want me to do?" After all, he liked Hugh. He wasn't sure whether that would make it easier or harder to care for him. Probably harder. Given a choice, most things in life were harder, now that he thought about it. Life wasn't meant to be easy.

      Cally smiled faintly. "I will instruct you," she told him and began to work. Vila realised he had been right. It was harder.

      Before they were through, Soolin was stirring. Cally ignored her as she worked, but Vila couldn't quite. Soolin began to struggle. "Let me go."

      Without looking up from her work, Cally said practically, "You must realise we cannot let you go yet, Soolin. You have been conditioned."

      "It's worn off," Soolin insisted. "Cally, please, we're in danger. They won't let us get away. There'll be a fleet after us."

      "We can't let you go," Vila put in. "You may think it's worn off, but what if it hasn't. It's not that we don't trust you, Soolin - yes it is. We _can't_ trust you, not yet. Maybe Orac can clear you."

      "But you don't understand," she cried, a struggle of some sort evident on her face. "I have to - have to get out of here. I - I planted a - a bomb." Her face contorted as if in pain and she sagged back against the pillow.

      "A bomb?" Vila echoed uneasily. "Where did you plant it, Soolin? You can tell us."

      "She may not be able to tell us," suggested Cally when Soolin did not respond. "She must have a very strong will to tell us that much."

      "That won't help us if we can't find it," Vila said. "Jabberwocky, have you been listening? Do you know anything about a bomb?"

      "Not a thing, but I'm checking now. Soolin went about the ship with Avon while he checked computer functions. She may have gone back later."

      "But wouldn't you know if she'd planted a bomb?" Vila demanded accusingly, turning away from Hugh to stare belligerently at Jabberwocky s visual display.

      "Not unless I saw her do it or it interfered with one of my functions."

      "I thought you knew everything," Vila persisted. "You can snoop on any of us at any time, can't you?"

      "I can tell where someone is by sensor readings and I can pick up conversations anywhere on the ship. But unless something was done in range of my visual sensors, I wouldn't have visual. I don't have many blind spots but there are a few of them and if Soolin paid attention to my detectors, she could find spots like that and use them to make her bomb or plant it. Most of the computer section is visible to me but there are one or two spots I might have overlooked. When this is all over I'll have to fix that problem. I think the computer room's most likely. She was there with Avon. She could have planted her bomb then."

      "Wouldn't you have seen her making a bomb?"

      "Not necessarily. If I didn't know I was supposed to check, I wouldn't have paid attention. She was making something on her way here but she said it was an experimental weapon she was making for Dayna as a surprise. It didn't seem like a lie, and my detectors didn't react."

      "She'd probably believe she was telling the truth if she'd been conditioned," said Cally. "Vila, pay attention now. I need your help to close the wound."

      "All right, but if there's a bomb on board we'd better tell Blake."

      "Already done, Vila," Jabberwocky reassured him. "They're hunting for it now."

      "Wouldn't it be triggered to go off if we tried to escape?" Vila asked uneasily.

      He didn't like this. Though Soolin looked unresponsive, if not unconscious, Vila turned on her. "Well, what about it? When's the bloody thing to go off? Will it kill us all or just cripple the ship? Come on, tell us."

      She shook her head fiercely, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "I want to tell you, Vila - but I can't."

      Cally finished sealing a layer of synth-flesh over Hugh's wound. "There, that is done. He will need replacement blood, Vila. Will you set it up?" She punched buttons so that the necessary type and match appeared on the screen and Vila manipulated controls that regulated it. He didn't like setting up transfusions even if he didn't have to inject Hugh directly. Sticking needles into people, even second-hand, wasn't his idea of fun - he'd felt funny doing that to Blake when Witt had trapped him in his mind - but it had to be done.

      When he was finished, he looked at Soolin again. She was awake and watching him, struggling against the restraints, but he thought her struggles were programmed. She finally met his eyes and he saw awareness there. "I didn't - kill Hugh?" she said, sounding like she could hardly force the words out.

      "No," Cally assured her. "You did not kill him. He will recover completely. Soon he'll be reviving."

      "He'll hate me for it." There was no evident emotion in her voice. "Blake told me I should stay here. He said refusing to let myself care about people would destroy my soul. I didn't really believe him, but I stayed and tried to take his advice. I shouldn't have listened. Caring for people is what destroys the soul, Cally. Avon knows."

      "You are wrong, Soolin," Cally protested softly. "Avon is learning to care. If you were right, you would have been killed outright."

      "I'm only alive because this once Vila was quicker than Avon. I know how Avon's gun was set."

      Vila knew that was true, but he didn't want to take credit for being clever or heroic. Instead he said, "Sometimes people do things in the heat of the moment that they wouldn't do if there was time to be rational." He saw Cally looking at him in surprise and added, "We had enough of mistakes on Gauda Prime. Tell me where the bomb is, Soolin?"

      She had actually opened her mouth to tell him when the conditioning claimed her and she fell silent, struggling against it. "I -"

      All the lights in the medical unit flashed and went off.

      

      "We're getting clear," Tarrant reported triumphantly when Blake and Dayna arrived on the flight deck. "Jabberwocky reports no pursuit so far."

      "Orac has picked up transmissions," Avon offered in a dampening tone. "They know we've been here and orders are being given. We'll have to outrun them. There will be too many to fight."

      "Picking them up now, Del," Jabberwocky cut in. "I've put them on the screen. They're fast, but we've got a good lead on them. We can outrun them if nothing goes wrong."

      "Maximum speed then, Jabberwocky," Tarrant ordered. "Get us out of here."

      "Information," cut in Orac. "Pursuit ships approaching on a new heading, moving in from sector 12, course 937 mark 6."

      "They'll cut us off," Blake said unnecessarily. "Dayna, take your position. We'll have to fight."

      "We can still run," Tarrant objected. "We can cut close to the sun and get out of the solar system that way. It'll be dangerous, but not as dangerous as being surrounded by twenty pursuit ships." He reached into the link. // Jabberwocky, can you see what I want?//

      //Already implemented, Del, though we could've fought some of them.// Through Tarrant's mind came something that translated into a sigh. //It would have been fun.//

      //It wouldn't have been much fun to be surrounded,// Tarrant protested, directing his mind to setting the course while Jabberwocky fed him telemetry and flight data. He was conscious of the others checking the readings and realised they had come into link-mode with him as they assumed their positions. In a time when piloting was the most important, Jenna was always there too, and he didn't really mind because there was no rivalry in the link, though he tended to resent her when they were separate. Now he welcomed her input. Jenna had a lot of experience blockade-running and this was right up her alley. _Jabberwocky's_ screens were efficient and Avon had beefed up every system on board so they could risk going closer to the sun then an average pursuit ship could. If this was Servalan's handiwork, she would know Tarrant's familiarity with pursuit ships and be aware of his particular skills, and little he could do would surprise her, but she was only one woman and not a very high-ranking one even with Arpel's backing. If they could maintain their present speed, they would get away. He saw the other ships on the screen struggling to intercept them but they were too far away.

      //Maybe not, Del,// Jabberwocky interrupted his complacent thoughts. //We've got major trouble. Soolin says she planted a bomb, and the conditioning won't let her tell us where.//

      That information ran through the link, and Avon burst out, "Where?"

      "I'm backtracking now. The most likely is the computer crawlways. She spent time with you and Orac there on the way here."

      "She asked a lot of questions. I am a fool! I suspected her but no more than I did the rest of you. She was gaining information on the most strategic positions. There are only three that are close enough to anything important that Jabberwocky wouldn't be able to detect."

      "Where?" Blake sounded angry too.

      Avon was already at the door. "I can find them in less time than it will take to tell you," he called over his shoulder as he went out.

      "Whatever you do, Jabberwocky, maintain course and speed," Tarrant cautioned. "What could go wrong if the bomb went off?"

      "It would have to be very small," replied Jabberwocky, "Or I would have found it. The worst it could do would be to sever communication through the link."

      "But that could kill you," Tarrant objected desperately. "We'd lose control and I'd probably go mad before we spiralled down into the sun."

      "Not that bad. The break would be temporary and I could maintain ship functions though I'd be traumatized too. I suggest everybody else remove from the link now before-"

      The flight deck was dose enough to the computer section for them to hear the explosion. At the same moment, all the lights went out and Tarrant heard Blake cry, "Avon!" frantically as he jumped to his feet.

      But then the darkness on the flight deck cut into Tarrant's mind and he felt like he was being ripped apart. "NOOOO!" he cried as every sensation faded around him, and he didn't know if he were dying or simply going mad. Then there was nothing at all.

      

      Soolin felt the power drop momentarily and it was enough for her to wriggle free of her restraints and reach the doorway before the emergency lights came up, red and eerie. She heard Vila cry out a warning and Cally shout, "No, Soolin, wait," before she was free. She didn't want to go - a part of her mind was fighting to stay put, to have them fetch Orac to break her conditioning. She didn't want to hurt them. But her device had gone off and for the moment, the ship was cut off from the others; it could be operated manually, she knew, but Tarrant would be out of it and that would cause a delay. She had time. Her programming demanded she aid the Federation. No one could have known she would end up on _Jabberwocky_ when she was conditioned; she had been a bomb herself, looking for a place to explode, but she was here now and she was activated to do what she could to stop Blake and _Jabberwocky_ and turn them over to the Federation though she hated the Federation as much as any of them did.

      She didn't go directly to the flight deck, though it might have been easier. It would have also been easier to be caught again there, and she had a far better idea.

      IMIPAK. It must still be in the teleport section. With escape so urgent, there would have been no time for anything else. Using IMIPAK, she could hold the entire ship at bay. She could force them to turn themselves over to the Federation. Yes, IMIPAK was her best choice.

      The container was still there, the lid ajar. She opened it and pulled out the two separate pieces. One, large and weaponlike, with a conventional firing trigger and barrel, was obviously the projector; the other, like a small remote-control box, was the key. Tucking the projector under one arm and gripping the key tightly, she headed for the flight deck, checking the setting on the key. She would need around ten feet. A part of her mind, a part that didn't have control, could manage that much of a restriction, but though her steps flagged and tears leaked from her eyes, she kept on doggedly, one step at a time, aiming for the flight deck and Blake.

      If she killed Blake, she would hate herself for it. Blake had cared about her when no one else had; Blake had taken the time to reassure her and let her know that he wanted her to stay on _Jabberwocky_. Other than Hugh, who was everybody's friend, no one had ever gone out of their way for her before. Soolin hadn't realised until this moment how much she had let Blake mean to her, not as their leader - she was too cynical to believe in his cause - but as a human being and friend. And now, beyond control, she was going to betray or murder him. She should have known better than to stay. She should have known it would be fatal eventually. Everything good always was.

      

      Blake burst into the computer room and paused in the doorway trying to get his bearings. As he had run from the flight deck, the emergency lights had come on and power had returned. "Keep on the same heading, Jenna," he had bawled over his shoulder. His only answer was a muffled affirmative. Jenna looked shell-shocked, stunned. Though not Jabberwocky's link-mate, she had still been in link-mode when the bomb had gone off and she was feeling its side-effects. An equally dazed Dayna was making faint moaning sounds, but at Blake's command, she seemed to collect herself.

      "Dayna," barked Blake, "See to Tarrant. He might need resuscitation."

      "Right." Groggy but quick, Dayna dropped to her knees at Tarrant's side. "He's breathing," she called. "But he's in shock. I'll stay with him. Jabberwocky?"

      There had been no response. Jenna said softly, "I'm on manual, Dayna. The link's gone. Jabberwocky's still here but we can't communicate with him. Go on, Blake."

      Jenna knew how desperately worried about Avon he was. There had been enough time for Avon to reach the device before the explosion and he could be dead now. Dreading what he might find, Blake charged into the room. "Avon!" he bellowed.

      The main lights came up then and Blake stopped to get his bearings. It was then that he saw something down one of the crawlspaces, a dark blue shape. Avon's tunic had been dark blue.

      Blake eased himself into the crawlspace. It was designed for a smaller man than he was, so it was rather a tight fit, but there was just enough room. He dreaded what he might find. How close had Avon been? Was he lying there dead, his body broken? Was he only stunned? "Avon?" Blake tried again. The blue shape didn't stir.

      Finally Blake reached Avon's side. The computer expert lay sprawled against a conduit, his face blank and shuttered, his eyes closed. Other than a scrape on his forehead that had bled a little, Blake saw no overt signs of injury, and he heaved a faint sigh of relief as he detected the slow rise and fall of Avon's chest. Crawling in here would have slowed him; he might have been far enough to be dazed rather than actually hurt. Finding Avon's pulse reassured Blake still further; it beat steadily and strong under his fingers.

      Blake checked Avon as best he could in the confined space for broken bones, and finding none, he looked past him to the remnants of Soolin's makeshift bomb. Jabberwocky's link with the crew had been broken. It might be possible to reach Jabberwocky by direct contact with the main control panel, but until this was repaired, the link was gone. It should be fairly easy for Avon to fix once he was on his feet again. Blake suspected that he could do it himself by calling up the specs on the diagnostic screens, and Orac could direct repairs. But first they must escape.

      Taking hold of Avon's shoulders, Blake began the difficult task of wiggling back toward the doorway. At the movement, Avon made a fretful sound like a child with a cut finger and muttered muzzily, "Wha' th' hell..."

      "You're all right, Avon," Blake told him. "Let me get you out of here."

      "What happened?" Avon still sounded vague, but he was coming out of it. They'd been lucky this time, at least Avon had. Whether they had been lucky as a crew it was impossible to tell. Escape would be up to Jenna now. At least they wouldn't have to deal with Soolin; she was safe in the medical unit.

      "What happened to the bomb?" Avon's voice was gaining strength, but he had relaxed enough to allow Blake to pull him out of the crawlway. Once they were into a more open area, Avon struggled to his feet, not disdaining the hand Blake offered him, and he didn't pull away from the support of Blake's grip on his arm.

      "The bomb went off," Blake explained quickly. "We've lost contact with Jabberwocky, but we have manual control and Jenna's maintaining course and speed. I know you probably don't feel up to it, but we need you on the flight deck."

      "I'm all right." Avon seemed to notice for the first time that Blake was holding onto his arm, and he shook off the grip impatiently. "Tarrant?"

      "He could need you to go in and pull him out the way you did when Witt attacked me," Blake told him. He knew Avon would dislike the idea - Avon might have healing abilities, but he didn't enjoy using them and did it only when there was no alternative. Maybe they could help Tarrant by propping him in the main position and connecting him physically with Jabberwocky's display.

      Avon grimaced. "Let's go."

      "Not so fast."

      As he recognised the voice, Blake froze, and they turned as one to find Soolin standing in the doorway, IMIPAK in her hands. "Now, Soolin, put it down," Blake said in a soothing voice. "Take it easy. You don't want to hurt us."

      "I should imagine that's how Hugh talked to her," Avon said coldly. "It didn't work for him; it won't work for us either. What do you want, Soolin?"

      "I don't want to hurt you," she insisted. "But I have no choice, Blake. Order Tarrant to take us back the way we came and you'll surrender yourself and _Jabberwocky_ to the Federation."

      "And if I don't?"

      "Then I'll activate the key and remove you. I can mark the others. Do you want to watch them die one by one?"

      Blake had been through that kind of threat before, back on the _London_ on his way to Cygnus Alpha. He had yielded there, to Avon's disgust. He didn't see what else he could do now, though they would be killed anyway if they were caught. But while they were alive they had a chance. If Soolin was forced to kill them out of hand, there would be no more options.

      Vila and Cally charged around the corner then and skidded to a halt behind Soolin, staring at her in shocked dismay as they realised what she was doing. When she heard them, her hand tightened on the key, and Blake called out sharply, "Stay put."

      "How the hell did she get away from you?" Avon accused.

      "When the power went down the restraints shut off long enough for her to get free," Vila defended himself. He was holding a gun. "Soolin, put it down. You know you don't want to hurt Blake or Avon."

      "Oh, but she does," Avon corrected cynically.

      Soolin's face twisted. "No, I don't. But I can't help it."

      "People have broken conditioning before," Vila continued reasonably. "Blake did it. It's hard, but you can do it, Soolin."

      At the pep talk, Avon flung him a look of disgust, but Blake noticed that when her attention was fixed on Vila, Avon had edged fractionally closer to her.

      Blake didn't like the risk of jumping her. If they were in range of the key, she could kill them whether it was aimed at them or not. If Avon reached her, the device might be triggered accidentally.

      "If you shoot me, Vila, I could still kill them," Soolin threatened. "All it would take would be for my hand to twitch."

      Cally put a restraining hand on Vila's arm. "She's right. Wait."

      "It's your move, Blake." Soolin turned back to him. "Will you turn the ship over to me or must I mark Cally and Vila as well? It won't take the Federation long to learn how IMIPAK works. Let's go to the flight deck."

      Avon tensed, bracing himself to attack.

      //Not yet,// Cally sent.

      From the way Avon's jaw tautened, Blake knew Cally had sent him the same message. Avon's face tensed and Blake saw a surprised look cross Cally's face. Avon seldom let himself do anything with the telepathy Cally insisted he had, but he must have used it now. He found it easier to send to the Auron, Blake knew, perhaps he believed it was only her own telepathic gifts that allowed her to receive him.

      Then Blake heard Avon in his own head. Nothing as clear as Cally's transmissions, it was faint and full of effort, but it was Avon, and without Jabberwocky to boost him he had to do it all himself. //Blake - must stop her - won't surrender.//

      Blake couldn't respond, but he knew Cally had picked it up too. Cally was a fighter; it was not her nature to yield tamely to capture, but Cally also loved Avon and she would fear the danger to him. Hugh wasn't available to try to counteract IMIPAK, assuming it was possible.

      //Blake,// Cally sent, //We will distract Soolin. If we have a good chance to take her, we will do it. If the risk is too high, we must wait. She has not yet altered our course. I have warned Jenna to seal off the flight deck.//

      It was too dangerous. Blake had risked his crew too often in the past, with unhappy results, to take this risk, even if he were unmarked by IMIPAK. In the past Avon had accused him of putting the cause before the lives of his crew, and when Gan died, it was clear that Avon had been right, though any commander must risk the lives of people, and Gan had accepted the risk. They must try this, but Blake was afraid of the final outcome.

      Then everything went wrong at once. Vila had begun to sneak his gun up again, clearly on Cally's orders. Her body was tensed and ready to strike, and Blake thought, as he often had before, that Cally could be the toughest of them all. He tended to forget it sometimes in the midst of her concern for the others and the fact that it had often been she who treated the wounded on _Liberator_ , but as a guerrilla fighter, Cally was first rate and if anyone could get IMIPAK away from Soolin, she could.

      Blake held out his hand to Soolin, prepared to do his bit. "Soolin, we know this isn't your idea. I've been conditioned myself, better than you because I didn't even know it. If you can recognise that, you're strong enough to resist."

      "I can't," she denied. "Don't you think I've tried to fight it, Blake? Do you think I _want_ to kill you? No one in my whole life has treated me as well as you have. I would have followed you anywhere, even though I don't really believe your cause will succeed."

      "More blind loyalty," Avon muttered under his breath.

      Vila's finger tightened on the trigger of his gun. Cally's eyes flashed. But before anyone could act, there came a new distraction. "Cally!" Hugh wobbled down the passage, leaning unsteadily against the wall. "What's happened? I can't reach Jabberwocky, and Jenna says we're in trouble."

      He fell silent when he saw Soolin and realised what she was holding, but at the sound of his voice, shock had run through her body and she sagged.

      That was all the distraction Avon and Cally needed. They dove at her as one, and Avon went for the key as Cally caught Soolin's arms and jerked them back. The key flew out of her grip unfired, and Avon fumbled after it while it popped out of his hands, once, twice, a third time. Vila cried out in alarm and tried to catch it too, and as Soolin struggled with Cally, they knocked into Avon who fell, taking the key with him. Vila came down on top of him, the key beneath them both, and Avon cursed suddenly and violently. Blake realised with horror that Avon had accidentally triggered the key.

      Blake froze in mid-step, expecting to feel the effects of IMIPAK spreading through his body, but he felt nothing but panic. In the frozen seconds that followed, Cally restrained Soolin who had stopped struggling, and Avon shoved at Vila furiously. The thief scrambled to his feet, and Avon rose too, clutching IMIPAK's key in both hands. His face was rather whiter than usual and his teeth were clenched. For a moment, Blake feared he would strike Soolin, but instead he held up the key and deliberately pushed the button. Nothing happened. His face a study, Avon levelled it at Blake and pushed it again. Though he had realised by this time that it didn't work, Blake couldn't help cringing. When he remained alive and intact, Blake managed a shaky grin. "It doesn't work, Avon," he cried. "The bloody thing doesn't work." He began to laugh as the tension shattered.

      Avon seemed to find it not remotely funny. "It's not IMIPAK." He picked up the projector and began to dismantle it. Inside it was empty except for some weighted pieces to give it the right feel. "It's all been a trap," he pointed out. "The whole plan, Soolin, everything. If Servalan isn't on one of those ships back there, I'll eat this thing." He lifted the pieces of the dummy IMIPAK, then he turned to Cally. "I think you'd best restrain her again," he said, and Blake recognised the tone of his voice. He wouldn't answer for Soolin's safety if she remained in Avon's presence.

      Cally led Soolin off. "Can you make it back to the medical unit, Hugh?" she asked over her shoulder. "I'll explain everything there."

      "I think so."

      He looked like he could barely stand. Avon turned sharply to stare at him, then he removed the gun from Vila's hand. "Help Hugh," he ordered.

      "Where will you be?" demanded Vila in the tones of one who feels that he is being made to do all the work.

      "On the flight deck. Until we get Jabberwocky back, Tarrant will be at risk."

      "I'd better go to him," suggested Hugh, though he was clearly not well enough yet.

      "You will do nothing of the sort," Avon snapped at him.

      Surprisingly, Hugh took that in good part. "Of course, Dr. Avon," he retorted sarcastically, though his eyes were twinkling. "Or should I say Captain Avon? We don't all dance to your measure, you know."

      Avon actually smiled at him, but he didn't argue. He turned toward the closed flight deck door and it opened before him without pause. Blake realised with stunned comprehension that Avon must have telepathed to Jenna to do so.

      "Vila, when you get Hugh to bed, come back here," Blake instructed with a gesture at the entrance to the computer section. "We've got to put our ship back together. We need Jabberwocky." He followed Avon to the flight deck.

      

      

It had taken all the skill Jenna Stannis possessed to keep the ship on course with nothing more than manual control, but she had finally stabilised it. She realised that she had been spoiled by the ease of link-mode and decided if they got through this, they'd need to practice manual flight rather than relying on the easiest method. If Jabberwocky could be shut down without affecting ship's functions, then it would be necessary to keep her hand in.

      Tarrant had set them a reckless course, but Jenna, who could occasionally be more cautious than the younger pilot, had to admit it was the only chance she could see to get away. After that first moment of blank confusion when everything had seemed to shut down, power surged back with a methodical precision which suggested that even if Jabberwocky were unable to communicate, he could still function. He seemed to guess just what power she needed and which readouts were important. Severing the link between him and Tarrant would be traumatic for Jabberwocky as well as for Tarrant, who, at that moment, lay sprawled unconscious on one of the couches at the front of the flight deck with Dayna ministering to him. Dayna's weapons board was set on manual too, she would return to it in an instant if any of the pursuing ships got too close, but for the moment, she was sticking with Tarrant. When Blake had been forcibly ripped from the link, he had been more completely traumatized, but then he had been attacked by a telepath, who could intensify the separation, and Tarrant had had a few moments' warning.

      "How is he?" Jenna asked.

      "Breathing normally," reported Dayna, "But I don't think he's unconscious. I think he's almost as bad as Blake was. He's breathing on his own and his heart's beating but besides that, he's not much better off. I hope Avon..." Her voice trailed off. If Avon were dead, there was still Cally to try to help, but there were no guarantees.

      //Jenna, seal the flight deck,// Cally's telepathic transmission startled her. //Soolin is free, and she has IMIPAK. We are in danger, but we must not let her take the ship.//

      IMIPAK! But Blake had been marked! Jenna froze, then automatically she punched up the order to seal the flight deck. As the door slid shut, it felt as though she had betrayed Blake, but there was no choice. Maybe Soolin didn't know where Blake was. She would use IMIPAK as a threat, surely, rather than activating the key right away. At least Jenna hoped so.

      "What's wrong?" Dayna asked. "Are we under attack?"

      "Soolin's loose. The restraints failed when we had that power drop."

      "What more can she do? Are there more bombs?"

      "She can do plenty. She's got IMIPAK."

      ''IMIPAK! But - the more I think of it, the more convinced I am that it's just a replica."

      "You had better be right." Jenna checked the course on the screen again. "Jabberwocky, lower the detector shield," she said automatically, then, muttering a curse, she reached out and set them herself. "Dayna, put up the force wall."

      Startled, Dayna obeyed. "What are you doing?"

      "I'm going to let them think we got too close to the sun." She grimaced. "It's going to take some tricky flying, but I think I can do it. I wish we had Jabberwocky on-line. I don't know if he can receive, but I think so. I'll stay on manual though. We're going a lot closer to the sun than those pursuit ships can. They've had us in visual since we started to run because they were waiting for us. We're still in visual, so I've lowered the detector shield to standard. When we get closer to the sun, I'll eject the old ship in the main hold, the one you got on Terminal, and you'll fire on it and blow it up. They'll register the explosion and as it goes up, I'll throw the detector shield on maximum. The readings won't be exact, but the proximity to the sun will distort them anyway, and they'll pick up debris."

      "Sounds good," Dayna approved.

      "Then stand by. It'll be a few minutes." As she began to depressurise the hold, Hugh called in and she took a few moments to explain to him what Soolin was doing, relieved to hear that he was conscious, then she turned back to the screen with the sun dominating and their projected trajectory laid out across the grid pattern. Suddenly she caught her breath as letters traced across the bottom of the screen. "JENNA. TRANSFER TARRANT TO CONTROL POSITION, PLACE HIS HAND ON CONTROL GRID AND I CAN RELINK. YOUR MANOEUVRE WILL WORK, BUT I CAN IMPLEMENT EASIER IF LINKED."

      "Jabberwocky!" cried Jenna exultantly. She had been half afraid that they wouldn't get Jabberwocky back, though the damage done by Soolin's bomb wouldn't have been enough to destroy him. "Dayna, look at the screen."

      Dayna glanced up sharply as if expecting a new fleet of pursuit ships, then her face lit up. "Help me move him, Jenna," she urged.

      "I have to maintain position. Drag him if you must."

      "Right." Dayna got her arms under Tarrant's shoulders and pulled him off the couch. His feet hit the floor with an audible thump and Dayna winced, but she tugged him over to Blake's position and heaved him up enough to deposit him in the seat. If this didn't work, she could make him comfortable later. Bracing him with her body to keep him from sliding onto the floor, she took his hand and held it on the green panel where Cally had forged her initial link. "Come on, Del," she muttered under her breath. "Link."

      For a long time, nothing happened. The ship raced closer and closer to the sun and the pursuit ships began to turn at an angle, still coming but altering their courses to give the sun a wider berth. They needed the force wall now because of the heat and radiation. Jenna hoped she was right about their course and that _Jabberwocky's_ capabilities were still as high.

      Tarrant looked dead, but he'd looked that way from the time of separation. He was breathing on his own though. This had simply been a severing, and both Blake and Cally had survived it. They had separated willingly though. If this didn't work, Avon could bring Tarrant back through his healing mode until repairs were made.

      "We're coming up on launch time," Jenna said. "You'll have to leave him, Dayna."

      The black girl began to shift Tarrant into a more stable position. "All right," she agreed, "But I don't think it's working. Jabberwocky may have been wrong." With an anguished look at Tarrant, she turned to her own position and prepared to fire.

      Jenna pushed buttons, opening the hatch and preparing to eject the derelict. "It'll need to go off right behind us, but the force wall should hold. We'll be away from it, but it will be in direct line of sight with those pursuit ships." She guided _Jabberwocky_ smoothly, realising that the ship was helping her. Jabberwocky had been a pilot too and he understood her strategy. It would be easier with Tarrant backing her, but Tarrant had not reacted yet.

      Then a groan came from the control position and Tarrant shivered convulsively, his muscles tightening. For a moment, he seemed disoriented, and she was afraid he'd pull away from the link panel, but his hand seemed glued there. Jenna remembered Cally telling her once that when she'd first linked, she had felt a suction there. Jabberwocky must be exerting it now to keep Tarrant's hand in place.

      Finally Tarrant raised his head and blinked. His eyes were shadowed and there was a hollow look to them as if part of his mind was missing, and Jenna shivered at the thought, but then Tarrant shook his head. "Oh God," he moaned. "I feel like I died."

      "You nearly did die," Dayna told him sternly. "Have you got linkage again?"

      Tarrant had to think about it, but then his face cleared. "Jabberwocky's still here," he said. "We don't have a normal link, but as long as I stay here we're okay. How long till we can restore power?"

      "Not long," Jenna consoled him. "Check with Jabberwocky on my strategy and if you can help say so. Otherwise shut up and get back in shape."

      Tarrant's face was resentful, but he must have seen the justice of her order. It was a crisis situation and he was coming into it cold. He closed his eyes again, rubbing his temples with his free hand, and concentrated. Normally Jabberwocky was simply there, but this time Tarrant had to work at it. Gradually the lines smoothed out of his face and he nodded. "We'll need to accelerate at the last second," he pointed out.

      "I'd planned on that." Jenna kept the sarcasm from her voice with an effort.

      "Soolin's got IMIPAK," Tarrant added.

      "We know."

      Tarrant was silent a minute more, and Jenna, monitoring her instruments carefully, suddenly cried, "Now, Tarrant. Maximum speed. Fire, Dayna!"

      The ship shot forward so smoothly that they wouldn't have felt it if they hadn't been expecting it. "Rear view," Jenna ordered, but Tarrant must have ordered it through the link because it came up as she spoke. "Tone it down," Jenna said in an undertone, and the picture dimmed as Jabberwocky put up a filter. A moment later, Dayna's fire struck the ship and it exploded violently, and even with the screen dimmed, they had to look away from the brightness of the explosion. Jenna threw the detector shields on full, half-wishing she could see the consternation on the faces of their pursuers as _Jabberwocky_ seemed to vanish in a giant fireball. "Forward view," she said curtly. Soon they could swing away from the sun and vanish into deep space.

      "Good work," Tarrant crowed enthusiastically. He was silent a moment as if listening, then he grinned. "They've got IMIPAK - only it isn't IMIPAK after all. And Avon's on his way here."

      Almost simultaneously, Jenna felt the unfamiliar sensation of Avon's telepathy. //Open the flight deck door, Jenna. It's over and we've got Soolin.//

      Jenna unsealed the door and Avon swept through. He stood there a moment looking at the screen. "We're clear?"

      "Give us another two minutes," Jenna said. "We're beyond visual, and they can't pierce the detector shielding. We gave them a nice big explosion so they'd think the sun destroyed us. If we don't meet additional pursuit, we'll be home free."

      "They are sending each other messages," Orac announced. "One of the senders is Sleer. She alone is urging continued pursuit. The others are overruling her." Orac was silent a moment then added, "She is very angry."

      "Good," said Tarrant.

      Avon appeared to notice him for the first time. "So you are still alive," he said, his eyes moving down to Tarrant's hand, pressed against the panel. "You're linked?"

      "Temporarily," Tarrant admitted. "How soon can you make repairs? This will get uncomfortable fast."

      "Well now, that shouldn't take very long." Avon picked up Orac. "You have Jabberwocky scan for more bombs. Can Orac and Jabberwocky still communicate?"

      "Affirmative," Orac said.

      "Then Jabberwocky will transmit a list of 'blind spots' to Orac, and I will check them. When that is done, repairs will be made."

      "Where's Blake?" Jenna asked.

      "Inspecting bomb damage. He will begin repairs immediately." Avon looked at the screen again. The dots that represented pursuit ships were beginning to turn back. Jenna saw a satisfied smile curl his mouth. "That takes care of that," he said, and coming from Avon, it was a compliment.

      

     

"You fools!" Servalan burst out impatiently. "They could have rigged that explosion. We must proceed, examine the area for wreckage."

      "Any wreckage will be drawn into the sun," Captain Laird informed her patronizingly. "We have detected debris and an ion trail plunging down toward the sun. I assure you they are destroyed, Lieutenant." He emphasised her rank in a disgustingly petty manner.

      Servalan didn't believe for a minute that the explosion she had witnessed had been anything but a decoy - unless Soolin's conditioning had prompted her to destroy the ship rather than let it escape. That was possible; details of that conditioning had never been made clear to her. Arpel had explained that the girl's family had been killed and she had tracked down the killers and executed them. During the process, she had been arrested and questioned. She had been conditioned then to defend the Federation at a trigger phrase. On some of the outer worlds, questionable felons were sometimes so prepared; there had been some positive results, such as when a smuggler or pirate had been conditioned. At the proper time, he had turned in his crewmate, even more fortunately, his booty. This was the first time one of the programmed ones had been so strategically placed, and it had backfired. Servalan hadn't wanted the mindship destroyed; she wanted it captured. If it had escaped her now, she could have found it later. Destroyed, it was no use to anyone.

      The choice of a decoy to draw them to Serna had been hers; she had planned it knowing Blake could not risk IMIPAK in the hands of the Federation. Servalan had maintained a discreet watch on the planet where IMIPAK had been left while she was President, and her last report had indicated that the planet had not been tampered with. Never daring to risk mention of the place in any official reports, she had purged the computers and caused a plague warning to be placed in orbit. It amused her to think of Blake's clone stranded there, and she never knew when she might find him useful. It was comforting to think she still had more than one secret weapon at her disposal.

      As for Arpel, he would find himself in deep trouble. Activating the agent on the mindship had been his plan; she had merely implemented it at his order. She'd contrived the bait, true, but how easy to prove she had only risked a dummy device, based on existing records of Blake and his crew. IMIPAK had gone missing from the Weapons' Development Complex. Blake had threatened to tell the Federation that IMIPAK was in his possession, but she had averted that catastrophe by dropping subtle hints that Carnell's disappearance was connected with the weapon. The fact that Blake's people had never used it added to the rumour. Carnell had never been apprehended and probably wouldn't, which made him useful in his absence. He was not likely to emerge now to refute the sudden reappearance of IMIPAK. Blake's involvement in the IMIPAK debacle was on record, and she had deemed it the proper bait. She had successfully lured Blake into the trap. That it had failed was due to the ineptitude of the crews of pursuit ships and base security and the interference of Arpel's conditioned tool. She knew several people who would be given copies of her report, people who could advance her career. It would be proven that she was not the one who had failed. Mentally she began to dictate the report. Arpel would survive it, unfortunately - at least until the mindship emerged unscathed on some new mission. Then his position would be very tenuous indeed. "I appreciate your efforts," she told Captain Laird. "I would like a copy of your scientific results to attach to my report to the President and the Council. You have done well. The mindship was not recaptured, but neither is it free to work against the Federation. Destruction was always a viable alternative."

      Laird brightened. "I will furnish you all the proofs you need, Sleer," he offered, and she realised she had an ally, if she could play him right. He did not want the responsibility of losing the mindship any more than she did, and he honestly believed it destroyed. It would be to his advantage to prove it. Later, if the mindship emerged, she could claim he had falsified his reports. No matter what happened later, she was in the clear, and that was what mattered. _Run, Blake_ , she thought with amusement, _As long as you are out there, I will find you. Then the mindship will be mine_.

      

      "Now we come to the question of Soolin," said Blake. The remainder of the crew, with the exception of Cally and Hugh, who were monitoring Orac's deprogramming work in the medical unit, were on the flight deck, and now, two days out of the Serna system, Jabberwocky's comm link had been repaired and Tarrant was himself again. Blake wondered if that was an advantage, but he smiled a little as he thought it. Tarrant might be rash, but he was learning. His planned course away from Serna, along with Jenna's decoy, had saved them, and Blake found he enjoyed the restoration of Tarrant's natural enthusiasm. It had taken six hours to restore the comm, and during those six hours, Blake had periodically come to the flight deck to find Tarrant sitting there grimly, half-asleep, his hand pressed to the link panel. Any violent separation from the link was traumatic; Blake knew. He'd been there himself and he could sympathise with Tarrant.

      Hugh's injury had proven minor and a day in the medical unit had healed him. It had been, Blake knew, an awkward time, since Soolin had been there too; the two of them had been friends, and now Soolin was hurting because she had shot one friend and tried to kill another. Blake was perceptive enough to know how highly Soolin valued him, and he was sorry that events had fallen out as they had. Though the whole debacle could be blamed on programming, Soolin might not consider that good enough, and Avon certainly wouldn't. Even if Soolin could come to terms with herself, Avon would not be pleased to have her stay on board.

      As if to prove his conclusions valid, Avon said, "Surely you do not intend her to stay?"

      "If Orac clears her, that is exactly what I do intend, Avon."

      "Then, as I have often remarked before, you are a fool, Blake." Avon came to stand before him at the edge of the control position. "It is no thanks to her that we were not killed on Serna or afterwards. I am sure Hugh did not appreciate being shot, and I was nearly blown up. As for IMIPAK, if it had been real, you and I would both be dead and this ship in the hands of the Federation. I do not believe I could easily forgive her for that."

      "Then put the blame where it belongs, Avon," insisted Blake. "On the Federation."

      "Or on yourself," cut in Jenna. Avon's head jerked back and he threw her an affronted look. "I fail to see - "

      Suddenly Vila began to laugh. "I do," he crowed triumphantly. "Remember how worried everybody was when the second trigger came through? We all thought that's why Soolin shot Hugh, but it hadn't come through when she planted the bomb, had it? No, Avon, you're the one who gave her the second trigger, remember?" He was laughing now. "When you quoted that poem. Ever since then, Soolin's been primed for action. If you hadn't said it, there wouldn't have been any bomb and she couldn't have escaped from the medical unit and got her hands on IMIPAK, could she?" He laughed harder. "All the second message did was reinforce it."

      The sight of Avon so disconcerted was something that Blake would cherish for a long time. The computer expert stood staring at Vila as if he had never seen him before, and Vila retreated under the strength of Avon's glare but he didn't entirely back down. Finally Avon turned to Blake and said determinedly, "That is irrelevant. Soolin was conditioned. We have no guarantees that additional triggers could not be implemented in future."

      "We'll probably be safe enough if Avon stops quoting Oscar Wilde on the flight deck," Tarrant observed under his breath.

      Dayna grinned. "I'd trust Orac's recommendation, Avon. Surely you'd believe Orac."

      "What about me, Avon?" Jabberwocky asked. "I've been checking Orac's deprogramming and it's working. Soolin's getting back to normal. Another hour should finish it and we'll all be back to normal."

      "Not to mention back at Ryalon," Jenna reminded them all. "Why are we going to Avalon's base, Blake?"

      "To find new ways to get us in trouble," Avon muttered.

      Blake ignored him. "Two reasons," he said. "I want to go to ground for a time. The Federation believes we're dead and I want them to go on thinking that for as long possible. Another reason is to see if anyone there can make something of this weapon we've stolen. It's not IMIPAK; it's a dummy, but I want to find out if we could adapt a defence against the real IMIPAK, and Avalon has some top people. Between them, Orac, Dayna and Avon, we just might accomplish that. If we can shield against the real IMIPAK, we can risk going back to that planet and destroying it." He smiled deprecatingly and spread out his hands. "If we don't, Servalan will find a way to use it against us one day, and the fewer traps waiting for us, the better I'll like it."

      "The better I'll like it too," Vila agreed, propping his feet up on the table and stretching comfortably. "I need a holiday. I'm glad we're going to Ryalon, there are some good bars there."

      "Is that all you can think of?" Avon asked scornfully.

      "No, but it's all I _want_ to think of. I need a rest. If you don't need one, that's your problem."

      "Soolin is everyone's problem," Avon insisted. "No matter how the conditioning was triggered, it doesn't alter the fact that she was conditioned. I would find it difficult to trust her in future."

      "You didn't trust her in the past," Dayna remarked. "Why is it different now?"

      "It is different because she tried to kill me. I tend to take attempts on my life personally. Call it a flaw in character." He turned to Blake. "However, knowing our fearless leader, she will be allowed to stay. I've told you before, Blake, that your bleeding heart would get you into trouble."

      "That's why you're here, Avon," Blake said reasonably, a smile hovering at the back of his eyes. "To get me out of it."

      "And you do it so well, Avon," Jenna purred.

      Avon's abortive smile vanished and he glared at her before turning back to Blake. "Be it upon your head then. But I shall keep my eye on her. I will not permit her to risk this ship."

      "Thanks, Avon," Jabberwocky said. "I'm really touched at your concern. But you're my father, aren't you. Between the two of us, I think we can watch Soolin. I hope she doesn't go. She's very pretty."

      "She almost destroyed you. Somehow being pretty does not seem compensation enough."

      "At least Jabberwocky's not a block of wood like you, Avon," muttered Vila.

      "You would recognise one, since that is the content of your brain."

      "I'm hurt," Vila came back. "I really am. That wasn't nice, Avon."

      "The truth often isn't," Avon turned away. "Since all of you are prepared to court disaster, I am going to go and convince Orac that Soolin must be monitored carefully in the future. "

      

      But it turned out that Avon's concern was unnecessary. Soolin had decided to leave the ship.

      "Just temporarily, Blake," she said. "Or so I hope. But as long as there's the slightest risk, I won't stay here."

      Blake had come to tell her he wanted her to stay, and Hugh, who had been monitoring the deprogramming, had stayed in the background, not speaking. But Soolin's eyes went past Blake to his face before she turned to Blake again. "I can't stay, Blake. We once talked about trusting people and caring - do you remember?"

      "I remember very well, Soolin. I meant it then and I mean it now."

      "You might and I believe Hugh does too, and Cally and Vila. The others might say they'll let me stay - though I'm sure Avon wants me gone - but they'd worry about me. I don't want to have to justify everything I do and say, and I don't want to risk letting you down. The two of you; you're closest to me. I know it was a stupid thing to do, caring for anyone, but you talked me into it, Blake." She looked at Hugh again. "You were the best friend I ever had, and I shot you. I could follow Blake, if not his cause, and I threatened him with IMIPAK. Don't say it wasn't really IMIPAK, that doesn't make any difference. I would have used it if it had been. I can remember being conditioned now and the compulsion is mostly gone. I can still feel it though. As long as any of it is left, I can't stay. Do you think Avalon would take me?"

      "I'm sure of it. She makes a habit of it. She took Witt back, after all."

      "And he's doing well," Hugh put in. "He's not like he was, but he's a better person for it. He's learning to care about people for the first time."

      "Damn you both," said Soolin fiercely. "Why is it so important that I care? I was safer when I cared for nothing but survival. Then the two of you changed that. It's not fair."

      "If you hadn't learned to care, Soolin, you wouldn't have fought the programming at all," Hugh told her. "If you hadn't fought it, you might have killed me. You might have built a bigger bomb. But you did fight it. If Avon is suspicious, that's his way, and he'll get over it after we link a few times. He'll be difficult at first, but when wasn't he? I'll give him a talking-to. Don't leave for that."

      "I won't. I can deal with Avon. But I can't risk hurting you again. If I hadn't listened to Blake and learned to care a little, I could stay. I want to stay, but I won't. Maybe I'll come back in a few months if you still want me."

      "Of course we'll want you," Hugh insisted. Blake knew they'd been close, and he was sorry to see them separate. Soolin needed someone like Hugh. He hoped she could make friends on Avalon's base; he'd have a discreet word with Avalon before they left.

      "We'll be there a while ourselves," Blake reminded her. "If you change your mind, you have only to say the word."

      "I won't change my mind." He saw the determination in the set of her jaw, but he also saw pain in her eyes and he felt guilty; maybe he had pushed her too hard. She had learned to care but now she was suffering for it. But suffering went along with any facet of life, and Blake didn't think he'd been wrong. He could imagine the reaction to his belief, but even Avon was coming around. Blake would have to be patient and take his time, with all of them. He had a lot to learn himself; he didn't have all the answers either.

      "I hope you'll come back, Soolin," Jabberwocky chimed in. "You're one of us and we'll miss you."

      Soolin closed her eyes. "Blake, please, just let it go. Don't make it hard for me, any of you. I have to do this. It's nice to know you want me back, but I'll decide for myself. Just leave it now, all of you."

      When Blake and Hugh were outside the medical unit, Blake heaved a sad sigh. "I wish I thought I'd handled that better."

      "She might come back," Hugh told him. "If she doesn't, I'll go and fetch her."

      "I don't see why you're so determined to keep her," Avon said, coming around a bend in the corridor.

      "Because she's one of us," Blake replied easily. "There's something about being on _Jabberwocky_ ; how do you think I'd feel if you decided to leave?"

      Avon shrugged. "Perhaps I do understand, Blake, though I don't like the idea of someone who's been conditioned like that."

      "Then perhaps I should leave as well," Blake retorted sharply, pushed too far. "My conditioning was much worse than hers was."

      Avon was taken aback. "Damn you, Blake," he muttered, left for once with nothing to say.

      Blake smiled a little. "You managed to stop me when I was programmed that time and you tolerated me when we were first on _Liberator_."

      "We put an end to your programming," Avon finally said. Blake knew that Avon would not admit that he had done any of that out of concern for Blake himself, but Blake knew that had been a part of it, and Avon's disconcerted look was enough for him.

      He smiled. "We're putting an end to Soolin's programming now. Soon she'll be herself again. She plans to stay with Avalon for a time, but I hope she'll come back."

      "I can't stop you," Avon replied, "But if the problem is repeated, it shall be upon your head." He no longer sounded so resentful though, and Blake began to hope that it might work out one day.

      Avon turned to go, and Blake smiled. Under the circumstances, Avon could hardly continue the argument, but he could make complaining noises about it for a time.

      Hugh followed him, grinning. "Avon, don't rush off so fast," he said. "I need your help with Orac's test program."

      Blake shook his head. At least Avon and Hugh had returned to easier terms after suspecting each other. Talking to Soolin might not change Avon's mind about her, though. That would take time. Avon would probably come to accept Soolin again if she returned, but it would take time. It might be difficult at first, but it wouldn't be impossible. Blake knew Avon considered Blake himself too optimistic, but this time he was betting Avon himself, and that was a sure thing.

      

      Servalan looked at her image in the mirror and smiled, stretching out her hand to touch her new rank insignia. Captain Sleer. That was a step in the right direction. Arpel was still Supreme Commander, but the President had reprimanded him and Servalan knew he would have to work twice as hard to maintain his position as he had done before. As for her, she was on the way back up. This time next year, she could have her old position back again. It had been three weeks and there was no trace of the mindship. If she had not captured it, she had destroyed it, and if a portion of her mind could not believe Avon and Blake were dead, she could repress it for now. There would be time enough to deal with their resurrection if and when it happened. She could always claim that someone had designed a new mindship. It was possible that Orac and Avon working together could have done so, and if _Jabberwocky_ reappeared, she would claim that was what had happened. Servalan always had an answer.

      In the meantime, she would watch the planet where the real IMIPAK remained. It might be the time to capture Blake's clone. There was much she could do with a Blake who was her tool. The clone had been ridiculously stubborn, but she could change that. Arpel's programming of Soolin had been too general. If she recaptured the clone and did some very specific programming... A smile tilted the corners of Servalan's mouth. Yes, that was a delicious idea. She had only to design some safeguards to protect herself from the real IMIPAK and she would take the next step in her rise to power. Space Commander Sleer had a lovely sound to it. Supreme Commander Sleer was even better.

      So she began to plan various methods for Arpel's destruction. "I'm afraid, my dear Sharn," she muttered aloud, "that you are beginning to lose your touch."

 


End file.
